RWBY Who?
by Shadowsouls0
Summary: Everyone was dead. Salem had won. They'd lost. Every plan foiled, every fortress conquered, every silver eyed warrior dead. The world had reached its end. Only one great huntsman remained. Yet now he, too, was dying. He was not blind to the end of humanity as he knew it. The future held no salvation. So Jaune Arc didn't look to the future. Instead... he looked to the past.
1. Roundabout

**(a/n- not gonna lie, this is a weird one. Sort of crossover but not really… you'll figure it out soon enough)**

Jaune Arc was dying.

He knew that much, gazing up at the figure approaching him. Crocea Mors lay shattered to the side, his stomach cleaved open by the claws of the now dead beowolf just a few feet away. His eyes flicked up, gazing through his hair. He saw the white-skinned woman walking toward him, the same woman that had ended his family. The same woman that corrupted his daughter. The same woman that would now end his life. She slowly leaned down, a small smirk spreading across her face, red, glowing irises finding him. Yet Jaune wasn't afraid.

Jaune had a plan.

Jaune _always_ had a plan.

She slowly approached him, stopping just a few feet away as his hand at last grasped the small pocket watch. The woman looked down, her voice dark velvet, "Do you plan on counting your last seconds alive?" what was he trying to do? The woman had to admit, she was curious. She had him. Jaune Arc, among the greatest of the resistance leaders. The most powerful man in the world at one time, now lay dying at her feet. Yet in response to this, he doesn't cower, he doesn't beg, he doesn't even fight, he just takes out a pocket watch. What was he doing? Jaune only smirked,

"Nope. Just giving myself a few more."

He clicked the top of it.

Everything went white.

…

Jaune woke up healthy, alive, and seventeen.

He let his eyes flick down, a small frown on his face as he gripped the pocket watch. He looked around, his eyes adjusting to the sudden light as he tried to get his bearings. It was nighttime. It was a few days before Beacon's freshman (including himself) were supposed to be going in. He flipped the pocket watch over, tapping on the back of it a few times before it suddenly flattened out, projecting what Jaune recognized as hard light out into the air. He waited a few seconds before, sure enough, a scroll was now in his hands.

He opened to his notekeeping section, frowning as he saw the date. "_Tonight's the robbery that starts it all… dammit! I need to hurry!_" it was time for Jaune to kick his plan into action. He dashed down the street, paying little mind to the many people walking past, going about their lives. All were blissfully unaware of the danger that awaited them, the death that would come for them within just a few short years if he couldn't stop it. "_I will stop it this time… I just need to figure out how…_" he tried to shake the thoughts from his head. Focus on the now… a bit ironic coming from him, but at the same time.

He slid to a halt in front of the familiar store, the same one he'd been in countless times before. He looked around, his eyes widening as he saw the familiar man in the white suit walking toward him. "_Not much time, need to hurry!_" he thought, reaching into his pocket. He couldn't help but smile as he pulled out the small, black cube. Traveling through the ages _did_ have some advantages. He set the cube on the ground, getting out his scroll and interfacing with the device remotely. It suddenly glowed, a brilliant blue light coming from the sides as the box opened, projecting that light onto the nearby dust shop.

He pressed a few buttons, smiling as he saw the dust shop shutters suddenly fall down, the doors locking. Thankfully the cashier was nowhere to be seen, likely somewhere in the back at the moment. There was almost no one on the street, just as there hadn't been any the first time Jaune had come by. He grabbed the cube, ducking into a nearby alley as he heard the footsteps approaching. He watched as none other than Roman Torchwick himself stepped past, glaring at the store. "Oh, well that's just great! Which one of you morons didn't tell me this place was _closed_!?" the men he was with just looked at each other, raising their eyebrows and shaking their heads.

Meanwhile, Jaune took the time to quietly slip around the brick pillar, leaning against the other side. "_Okay, now they should go for…_" he heard them walking away. He looked over, watching them walk towards the 'dust till dawn' shop across the street.

Jaune smirked.

Time for phase two.

He walked across the road, a significantly more confident idea forming in his head as he dashed across the street, crouching near the doorway as he saw Torchwick and his men enter. He pulled out the cube again, going to work with his scroll. "_All I have to do is trap them in there until the police get here… then everything should_-"

**CRASH!**

Jaune felt the glass on his back as he grabbed his cube, slowly turning his head to see who'd ruined his plan. He saw a brilliant red cloak fluttering in the wind as a giant, red scythe was raised in the air, spun around a young girl before being slammed into the ground. The girl moved back, silver eyes opening and gazing at the nearby criminals, a confident smirk on her face. One of her hands was extended out, holding a pair of headphones that were still blasting music. She clicked them, the music playing from them suddenly stopping. His eyes trailed over the figure, trying to recall if he'd seen her somewhere before.

She had pale white skin and brilliant silver eyes filled with a strange mixture of glee and excitement. Her hair was black, dipped in blood and stretching down past her chin. She had a childish look to her, with a somewhat thin figure cloaked in a black outfit with red stitches over her belly, a gray belt with bullets on one side and what looked like a metal rose on the other. Their most noticeable feature (barring the weapon) had to be their cloak, pinned onto their outfit with two little crosses. Looking down slightly Jaune saw dark gray tights leading into red and black boots, ones that were slowly stepping toward the store.

"_I know her… gods, it's been decades, what's her name?_" he thought. He _knew_ the girl, he just wasn't sure what her name was. Though, at the moment, he had bigger things to worry about. "O-kay… get her!" Roman said, glaring at his somewhat incompetent men as he did so. Jaune slowly stood, watching as the group dashed at the girl. Jaune turned his attention away from her for a moment, turning to face Roman himself. The man turned to look at him, eye flicking back to the fight before he sighed, "I swear good help is _so_ hard to find these days." he muttered, watching as the girl seemingly effortlessly mopped the floor with his goons.

The two's brief conversation was interrupted as one of the man's thugs was thrown to the ground beneath him, sliding against his cane. "You were worth every cent -truly you were." Roman muttered, slowly taking the cigar from his mouth. He smiled, eye flashing as he gazed the girl across from him, "Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening," he dropped his cigar, snuffing it out with the edge of his cane. "And as much as I'd _love_ to stick around," he aimed his cane at her, the end flipping up into a crosshair. "I'm afraid _this_, is where we part wAAAAYS!."

**BOOM!**

Roman glared at the blond kid that had slammed into his side, knocking off his aim and causing his shot to streak into the air like a firework. He spun his cane around, knocking the kid off balance before backing up. "Do you have a _deathwish_ kid!?" he went to fire, only for Jaune to dash ahead, striking Roman with his fists. He wasn't as good without Crocea Mors on him, but he had to _try_. He had to try and stall, had to try and make sure Roman didn't get away. Him getting away would lead to everything else that would happen. He could _not_ let Roman get away.

Roman grit his teeth as he kicked Jaune away, ducking below a bullet from Ruby. He sighed, "See, _this_ is why I don't complain about the wife getting the kids." he aimed his cane up, firing at Ruby. Jaune went to strike him, but Roman proved far faster than he expected. He slammed his cane against Jaune's leg, a hand on his back sending him down to the ground. Jaune was suddenly and _painfully_ reminded that his body wasn't as strong as what he was used to. Thankfully at least his soul wasn't the same one as his past self, or he wouldn't have had his aura to cushion the blow either.

He grunted as he lifted himself up, feeling a gentle pressure on his shoulder. "Are you okay?" he looked up, silver eyes meeting blue. Jaune quickly stuffed the cube back into his pocket, nodding a few times as he accepted the girl's help. He noticed that standing next to her, he was actually a fair bit taller than she was as well. He looked up, pointing toward Torchwick climbing a nearby ladder. "He's getting away!" he said, dashing toward the building. Ruby followed after (quite unnecessarily) asking the store owner for permission, running toward the side of the building before shooting toward the ground, landing just as Jaune jumped up from the ladder.

"Hey!" the two yelled, Jaune _really_ wishing he had his weapons at the moment. Hand-to-hand combat was never really his 'modus operandi'. He was the sword and shield guy, basic but not _that_ basic. To be perfectly honest? He was just hoping for the best. Roman didn't turn around, "Persistent." Jaune could vaguely hear him say. He and Ruby both staggered back a bit as a bullhead suddenly emerged from seemingly nowhere, allowing Roman his means of escape. He jumped in, smirking at the two, "End of the line, kids!" he yelled, throwing a red dust crystal at the two.

Jaune knew what was coming, shoving the girl out of the way before dashing ahead, creating a miniature shield with his aura. He saw Roman fire, he felt his body thrown back toward the crystal by the impact, his aura-shield nearly shattered. "_DEFINITELY_ _need to work on that when I get to Beacon… need to train my body back up to standard._" he thought as he stepped back, watching as Roman gazed down. He gritted his teeth, slamming on the side of the bullhead. Jaune just watched, unable to really do anything without a weapon as the bullhead flew off into the night, heading who knows where.

"_Crap… he's still loose…_" that was one thing Jaune had wanted to change. He'd wanted to change the outcome, to remove the pawn… then again, he supposed it wasn't the worst loss he could've suffered. Torchwick may have played a big part in the early stages of the plan, but he was a small fry compared to the ones running the show. "Um… hi." Jaune turned, suddenly reminded that he wasn't alone on the rooftop. He reached down, picking up the dust crystal at his feet before he gave the girl a smile. "Hi… sorry about -you know… pushing you over I just uh…"

"No no! It's okay I… thanks for saving me." she said, her cheeks tinted pink. Jaune felt an itch at the back of his head, his mind once more telling him that he knew this girl. Why couldn't he remember her name? He'd probably seen her in at least _one_ of his escapades through time and space, so why couldn't he remember who she was? "I don't think I really _saved_ you just… stopped a minor inconvenience… I mean, you have aura too, right?" he may not have _remembered_ the girl, but he could guess just from looking at her that she was a huntress in training. The combat skirt and giant scythe didn't exactly scream _civilian_.

"Yeah well… thanks anyway. I uh-" "Ahem." both turned, Jaune paling as he did so. He recognized that voice. No matter how long he spent not seeing her, it was _impossible_ for him not to know the woman in front of him. None other than Glynda Goodwitch, someone whose bad side he'd been on _far_ more times than he'd care to admit. The girl didn't have the same… experience, as he did. "You're a huntress…" Glynda slowly nodded, raising an eyebrow at her. It wasn't hard to figure out, of course. After all, the purple cape, white corset, black pencil-skirt and stockings didn't really scream _civilian_ any more than the girl's clothes.

"Can I have your autograph!?"

Jaune couldn't help but chuckle at that a bit, even Glynda loosening her expression for a moment. Jaune looked at the girl for a second before his eyes widened. The silver eyes, the scythe… that last comment had just connected the last piece of the puzzle. "Ruby…" he muttered, quiet enough no one could hear him. Ruby Rose. The Reaper of Vale. One of the most powerful warlords in the known world. The woman that brought Anima to its knees, the woman that could slay armies of grimm just by looking at them. She was among the most powerful women he'd ever met, one that he was glad was usually on _his_ side.

Yet here she was, asking Glynda for her autograph.

He stared for a few seconds before he turned to Glynda, the dust weighing heavy in his hand. "_He probably stole this from that old man… I should go return it, at least give him SOMETHING_." Jaune thought, casually walking toward the ladder. He walked for a second… then two… how far was it? It was a true testament to Jaune's mental capacity that it took him almost ten seconds to realize he was walking in place, suspended in the air by Glynda's semblance. He turned his head, "Um… do you mind putting me down?" Glynda gave him an unamused glare. He'd had a feeling that's what she'd do. It was what she normally did after all.

"Just where do you think you're going young man?" she asked, lightly pushing up on her glasses. Jaune gestured toward the ladder as if to say 'Where do you _think_?', giving her an incredulous look. Ruby giggled at that, quickly silenced by her glare. She glared a bit harder as Jaune held up the dust, "Torchwick threw this at us, I figured I should give it back to the… guy he… stole it… from…" just like every other time he met her, something about Glynda's stone cold glare always froze his throat. He'd faced down the horrors of Grimm countless times. Things he could scarce describe. Beasts from beyond time and space itself.

So why did Glynda Goodwitch terrify him so much?

Glynda slowly nodded, setting him down and walking over. She held out her hand, Jaune's movements robotic and slow as he dropped it into her outstretched palm. She gripped it in one hand, firmly taking his shoulder and pulling him back toward Ruby with the other. Jaune followed willingly, bullets of nervous sweat already forming on his head. He stood frozen next to Ruby as Glynda walked back before them, eyes flicking between the two. "You two have got a _lot_ of explaining to do." she said.

…

"I hope you children realize your actions tonight will not be taken lightly! You put yourselves and others in _great_ danger!"

"They _started_ it!" Ruby said, exposing her more childish tendencies. Jaune couldn't help but feel like he was in a police lineup. The way Glynda was walking around them, the light shining down on them as the two sat in front of a table, and -of course- the fact they were _in_ a police station at the very moment. Jaune didn't say anything, eyes following as Glynda walked around in front of them. Green eyes met blue as she walked over, "Have anything to say for yourself young man? Any excuses?" she asked. Jaune stayed silent, still staring at her. He knew Glynda hated that, but he'd learned the hard way that he'd only make a bad situation worse by talking… he'd learned it many… many… _many_ times…

Glynda glared at him a moment longer before she turned, "If it were up to me, you'd be sent home with a pat on the back…" Ruby smiled, but Jaune on cringed, knowing what usually came after that. Glynda sharply turned, "And a slap on the wrist!" she slammed her riding crop down, Jaune lightly shoving himself and Ruby back from the table as Ruby flinched away. Glynda looked at him for a moment before she sighed, "But… there is someone who would like to meet you." she started walking away, doing… something on that scroll she held.

Jaune's eyes widened a bit as he saw none other than professor Ozpin himself walk forward, carrying his signature coffee mug in one hand and a… plate of cookies in the other? He stopped at the table, "Ruby Rose. Jaune Arc." he addressed them both individually before setting the plate of cookies in front of Ruby. Ruby looked at Jaune for a moment, who only motioned for her to go ahead. Not that he was concerned but, he had a distinct feeling that those cookies weren't meant to placate him. Ruby stared for a moment before literally _inhaling_ one of them. Jaune barely saw her open her _mouth_.

She started shoveling them in a second later, Ozpin turning his attention to Jaune. "Mr. Arc. The shopkeeper of the Dust Til Dawn asked me to give you this. A token of his thanks, as the cookies are for Miss Rose." he said, laying down what looked to be a handwritten thank you note. Jaune smiled as he picked it up, carefully folding it before putting it in his pocket. He appreciated the subtle, old fashioned touch to it. Something poetic about it being given to him… he didn't have much time to think about it, given that Ozpin was speaking a moment later. "Mr. Arc. Did you think it was wise to attack Roman Torchwick unarmed?" Ozpin already knew the answer.

"No sir but, what was I supposed to do? Let him shoot her?" he said, gesturing to Ruby. Ruby finished off the cookies before turning toward him, giving him a smile. He smiled right back before turning to Ozpin, his face returning to its staunch neutrality. Ozpin smiled, "It's nice to see a future huntsmen already has the right mindset. However, it appears your hand-to-hand combat training could use some improvement." he said, Glynda taking her cue and showing a video clip of Jaune and Torchwick's brief spat. Ruby looked at Jaune for a second, her eyes wide.

Ozpin spoke before she could say anything, "I commend your bravery, Mr. Arc, and yours as well miss Rose. You both have the makings of great huntsmen." unlike Ruby, Jaune had been around Ozpin enough times to catch the double meaning in his words. He wasn't sure exactly _what_ he meant, but considering he was already set to go to Beacon (albeit on a false pretense) he could hazard a guess as to which _one_ he was talking about. He looked at Jaune, "Mr. Arc, would you please wait outside? I would like to speak with miss Rose alone." Jaune nodded, standing up and walking past Glynda toward the door.

He leaned back against the outside, looking both ways down the hall. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his scroll and going back through his notes on Ruby. "_Let's see, she got into Beacon two years after her sister did… well, all this information is useless if what I think's going to happen happens._" he thought. The fact that Ruby was one of the most respected and feared people on Remnant would all be different if Ozpin did what he thought he was going to.

Based on the shout of joy? He did.

He saw Ozpin and Glynda walk out, Glynda looking oddly annoyed, Ozpin rather pleased with himself. The two walked one way as Ruby dashed out, seemingly trying to contain herself. She walked straight ahead, watching as Ozpin and Glynda walked away. Then she clenched her fists, her eyes squeezed shut and her face stretched into one of the widest smiles he'd ever seen as she started dancing around, her feet pounding into the floor as she started jumping up and down, seemingly barely able to contain her glee.

Jaune just smiled at the display, waiting until Ruby was somewhat calm before he spoke. "Happy about something?" he was smiling partly at his own inner joke -as he more or less knew what had happened already- but mostly because Ruby looked so happy herself. She dashed over to him and likely would've knocked him over if he'd been unprepared. She wrapped her arms around him before she squealed, "OZPINLETMEINTOBEACONEARLYOHMYGOSHI'MSOHAPPYICOULDDIIIIIEEEE!" she shouted, slowly falling back. Jaune caught her before she hit the ground, lightly lifting her up to standing. He smiled, "Guess I'll see you on orientation day then." at least he'd know _someone_ at orientation… or rather, he'd know someone that already knew _him_ rather than having to strangely acquaint himself with people he'd known for centuries.

Ruby blinked a few times, slowly peeling herself away from him, "Oh, hehe… yeah…" Jaune knew she wanted to say more. He recognized that socially awkward tendency of leaving the sentence hanging, hoping the other person would say something. He did the same thing after all. "Yeah… oh, uh, do you mind if I get your scroll address? There's a lot of people at orientation… might be hard to find you." _gods_ he hoped he didn't sound as awkward as he felt. He was effectively asking for Ruby's number, just a few minutes after meeting her no less!

Ruby smiled, pulling out her scroll in seconds, "Sure! What's yours?" Jaune blinked a few times before he pulled out his scroll, giving her the number of it. He looked over as she put it in, copying in hers… then doing it again when she told him so that he didn't look like a creep. "_Great… now I have two Ruby Rose contacts that are exactly the same number…yay…_" suffice to say, he was going to have to delete one of those later.

Ruby stepped back after a second, her heart still nearly bursting in her chest. Today had been wild, amazing, full of firsts, and _plenty_ of other things. Not only had she been accepted into Beacon, but she'd also managed to get a guy's scroll number! She'd made a friend at Beacon before even _getting_ there! Already better than Signal! "Oh uh… Jaune, right?" the man of that name nodded, "Do you think we'll be on the same team?" she couldn't help but imagine how useful it would be. To be on a team with not only her sister but also a friend. That meant she'd only have _one_ person to be awkward and weird around! _Score_!

Jaune just shrugged, having been through the Beacon initiation enough times to know how it worked. "Guess we'll wait and see." maybe part of him was sadistic, wanting to keep it a secret from Ruby. He had to admit there was a part of him that took pleasure in seeing her walk around oblivious to it… maybe he was more like his sisters than he thought. Ruby nodded a few times, tapping on her scroll… then she frowned when she saw the time. "Something wrong?" Jaune was dense but, he wasn't stupid. He could sense when someone went from 'about to die from happiness' to worried.

"Nothing… guess I'm walking home again." she muttered, pouting slightly. Given it was already nearing midnight, both her father _and_ Yang would be fast asleep, and neither of them was particularly good at waking up. She _had_ told them she'd be out a bit later than usual… knowing Yang she'd have fallen asleep just to teach her a lesson. "Is it far?" Jaune knew the answer of course. He may not have known Ruby _well_ over the course of his years, but he was fairly certain she lived somewhere in Patch. Ruby, of course, just nodded. It would take her almost an _hour_ to get home… _sprinting_.

Jaune couldn't help but feel guilty. After all, if he hadn't tried to stop Torchwick at the first store or if he'd been just a _bit_ faster at hacking the second one, Ruby wouldn't have been involved at all… of course, she may not have gotten into Beacon either so, maybe they canceled out. Still, that didn't help her right now. Of course, he could _definitely_ do that. "My family has a place pretty closeby if you want to stay the night." it _was_ where he'd been staying at this point in time if he remembered correctly. He _really_ hoped he was, otherwise he might suddenly barge in on one of his sisters.

Ruby smiled, "Really? Thanks, friend!" in her innocent mind, any implications her sister might have sensed were completely lost. Of course, Jaune hadn't really thought of any either so, it balanced out just fine. Jaune started walking out of the station, Ruby grabbing his wrist and tugging for a second, "Wait for me outside! I have to get my baby!" she dashed away before Jaune could question it. Baby? He didn't recall Ruby ever _having_ a child, let _alone_ having one at fifteen. Had he missed something? Had his time traveling sent him into an alternate reality that had been shifted before he arrived? Wouldn't be the first time…

He walked outside, letting out a small sigh of relief when Ruby dashed out, her scythe held in her arms. "_Oh… just her weapon… okay, that makes more sense._" Jaune wouldn't lie: he was a bit weirded out. Sure it was kind of endearing for her to be coddling and cuddling with her weapon but, it was also just a _bit_ too far out there for Jaune to just ignore. He started walking, letting out an inaudible sigh of relief when Ruby spun her scythe into its rifle state, laying it on her back. At least he didn't have to hear her cooing to her weapon on the entire walk.

Ruby followed relatively quietly… well, for her at least. If Jaune had to guess, she was still over the moon about being accepted into Beacon. Of course, he was right. Ruby was on cloud nine during the walk, for the most part, daydreaming (well, given it was nearing midnight, more like regular (while still awake) dreaming) about what life at Beacon would be like. She didn't pay much attention to where they were going. Not even as they exited the city and entered the more rural parts of Vale. Far enough from the city to be quiet, but _just_ far enough from the kingdom edge to be safe.

"We're here." when Ruby finally snapped out of it, she found that they were standing near a small, two-story house. She looked around, finding it was one of several, all of which were within relatively close proximity to one another, maybe a hundred feet between each one. The home they were in front of had white siding and a black roof, with pale yellow shudders on each window. The door itself was a dark mahogany wood, one that Jaune didn't even bother knocking on. Instead, he reached into his pocket, pulling out the key he knew he'd have on him before turning it in the lock, opening the door. "After you." he stepped aside, gesturing in with both arms.

Ruby giggled, "Such a _gentleman_!" she casually walked in, looking around for a moment as Jaune walked in behind her, shutting and locking the door the same way he always did. More out of habit than need if he was honest. Ruby started walking around, eyes flicking over the relatively plain house, with its white walls and few pictures here and there. She walked into what she guessed was the living room, a large couch almost the length of the room itself right across from a TV, not at all unlike the one in her own house's living room. She looked over, her stomach grumbling as she saw the kitchen nearby.

Apparently, it wasn't just her that heard it. "Hungry?" Ruby's face matched her namesake as she nodded, looking down at the floor. Jaune just chuckled, lightly patting her shoulder before walking into the kitchen. "It's alright, so am I. Let's see what we… wow… _really_ need to go shopping…" Jaune muttered, lightly rubbing his chin. The fridge had water, a few energy drinks, a half-full gallon of milk and… not much else. There was some cheese in the bottom drawer and some eggs but… that was about it. He opened the freezer directly beneath, smiling in relief as he saw at a few things he could fix.

"Hey, Ruby." the embarrassed girl had migrated to the couch as Jaune had been looking apparently. She looked up, face having dimmed down to medium pink. She saw Jaune holding up a bag, what looked to be hot wings if she had to guess. "Are these okay? I'd offer something else but uh… we're, kind of limited on options here." he said, eyes flicking back to the freezer. Ruby just nodded a few times, her stomach rumbling at the thought of food. She'd probably have eaten the bag those wings were _in_ if Jaune just put some sugar on it.

Jaune nodded a few times, spilling out the remnants of the wings (that being twelve of them) onto a plate. He tossed the bag away before setting the plate in the microwave, turning it to two minutes. He'd fixed them enough times, he knew how long they needed to be in there. He moved back to the fridge, "What would you like to dri-" "Milk!" Jaune slowly turned, raising an eyebrow at Ruby. Her eyes were bright, a little smile on her face. Her hands were in her lap, her legs in front of her. "I'm sorry wha-" "Milk!" she just said again, giving him a bright smile, closing her eyes as she did so.

Jaune shrugged, grabbing a cup from the nearby cabinet and taking out the half-full gallon. He was about to put it up when he looked at the microwave, seeing the red hot wings he was fixing… he wisely decided to join Ruby in her choice of beverage. He suddenly understood why Ruby had chosen milk. Or at least, he thought he did. He thought Ruby was being smart, choosing something that would cool down her mouth from the hot food.

In truth? Ruby just liked milk.

Jaune put the milk away just as the microwave beeped, signaling the wings were done. He grabbed them out, taking his mug of milk as well and walking back into the living room. He set them down, going back to get Ruby's glass. Though, by the time he got back, he noticed Ruby already drinking from the mug. Jaune looked at her for a second, "That… was my milk, Ruby." he didn't _really_ mind that much but, it was still supposed to be his.

"It doesn't have your name on it?" Ruby said, more like a question. Her face was already turning red again, and she _really_ wished she had waited for Jaune to come back in before casually drinking from the first thing she saw with milk in it. Jaune casually set what was _supposed_ to be Ruby's glass on the table before grabbing the mug from her hands. Without a word he spun it around, pointing to the word 'JAUNE' written in big, yellow letters along the side. "O-Oh… it _does_ have… your… sorry…" Ruby pulled her hood down over her face. She wouldn't be surprised if Jaune saw no difference between the two, given how red her face was.

Jaune chuckled, a warm smile lighting his face as he saw Ruby embarrassed. He sat down, holding his mug out to her with one hand, wrapping an arm around her shoulder with the other. "It's okay. Here, may as well finish it… maybe wait until you eat more wings first. We're uh, kinda low on milk." he said, rethinking his words before he let go of the mug. Ruby took it wordlessly, sitting it down. Now her face was red, but for an _entirely_ different reason. She looked over, her eyes watching as Jaune ate a hot wing with one hand, casually taking a drink with the same one. The reason she was blushing now? Simple:

He hadn't moved his other arm.

She didn't say anything, just sitting there as Jaune turned on the television, casually eating. Inside, Ruby was starting to panic. "_Should I say something? Is this normal? Is he hitting on me!? Am I saying yes by not doing anything!? Oh WHY didn't I pay more attention when Yang was talking about things like this!? Why did I think this was a good idea!? What'll happen if I say something!? What'll happen if I DON'T!?"_ Jaune, of course, was completely oblivious to where his arm lay. He knew it rested on something comfortable, but honestly, he thought it was the back of the couch.

Though, when he went to look at Ruby again, his face went red upon seeing it. He quickly moved his arm, "Hehe, sorry about that… old habits…" he figured that was a less lame excuse than 'he didn't realize it was her shoulder'. Maybe a tad bit more believable too. Ruby, of course, let out a sigh of relief at that. Though, now her embarrassment was being taken over by something else entirely: Curiosity.

"What habits?" that was the first thing obviously. Jaune ate his last (sixth) wing (they were boneless thankfully) before he lightly pushed the plate toward her, leaning back on the couch. He smiled as he leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling, "When my sister and I watched TV shows I'd always do that… sometimes I just forget who I'm with." he said, watching Ruby out of the corner of his eye. He saw her nod a few times, reaching forward to grab a hot wing. She bit down,

"AAAAAH! HOT! HOT!"

Ruby may as well have had smoke coming from her ears as she grabbed her mug, downing most of the milk in one go. Jaune just watched, hand over his mouth as he struggled to keep from laughing. Ruby looked over after a second, face still bright red. "HEY! D-Don't laugh at me!" her pouting and shouting at Jaune drove him over the edge. He started laughing, holding his stomach with his hands as Ruby glared and pouted at him, mad that he was laughing. Though, after a few minutes, she started laughing.

Apparently, Jaune Arc's laughter was highly contagious.

After a few minutes, both were laughing, leaning back on the couch, neither really sure what they were laughing about anymore. Both fell back, sinking into the hole Jaune's sisters had made over the years by plopping down in the center of the couch so often. Both leaned back a bit, their sides flush together as they gazed at the ceiling. Jaune looked down. Ruby looked up. Both shared a smile as Ruby looked ahead. "A little _warning_ next time… okay?" she said, lightly shoving his arm. Jaune barely thought as he reached back, wrapping her hood up and over her head, much the same way her sister would.

"Sure Ruby… sure." at that point, Ruby began to contemplate if Jaune had a younger sister. The way he was acting was _painfully_ reminiscent of Yang. All he needed was to throw a few bad puns around and become hopelessly addicted to getting himself in trouble.

Given what had transpired earlier, he was already on the path to Yangdom.

"_Oh pleeeeeease don't let him turn into a Yang! One's enough!_" Ruby thought, lightly rubbing her head against the back of the couch. She smiled as she felt the couch rubbing back, running over her head… "_Wait…_" Ruby looked up, seeing Jaune's hand lightly rubbing against her head. Jaune, of course, just had a smile on his face. Ruby just looked ahead, pressing against his hand as Jaune rubbed a bit more. "Jaune… please don't tell anyone about this." Ruby said, pouting and Jaune, making her infamous puppy dog eyes.

Jaune smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. "Our secret." he said, lightly ruffling Ruby's hair. Ruby struggled to get out of his grip for a second, only to realize it's futility, letting her hair be ruffled after a few seconds. She would deny to Vacuo and back that she enjoyed the feeling… of course, when even _Jaune_ could figure out she liked him doing it? She had no chance of hiding it from anyone else. With no means or desire to escape she just sat there, fighting down her smile as Jaune pet her head. "_At least he's not as rough as Yang… why can't she be more gentle like him?_" she thought, pressing further into his palm.

What eventually got Jaune to stop was Ruby's little yawn, her eyes drooping slightly. He looked down, "Tired?" Ruby just nodded a few times, lightly rubbing her head against his shoulder. Jaune couldn't keep the smile off his face, looking down at the tired Ruby. He grabbed the nearby plate, which still held five hot wings on it. He motioned to it with his other hand, only for Ruby to shake her head, shutting her eyes after a second. He shrugged, "Well, more for me I guess." he ate them as Ruby quickly dozed off next to him, twisting over slightly. He scarfed down the last one a few seconds later, quickly downing the rest of his milk before going to stand.

He heard something flop down onto the couch behind him as he turned, seeing Ruby slowly curling up on the couch. He grabbed his scroll and snapped a picture without even thinking, stuffing it in his pocket before he leaned down, hoisting the girl into his arms. The second he did so he saw her rub her head against his shoulder, a content smile on her face. He turned back, carrying her into the nearby bedroom. It was normally the one his sisters slept in, but he didn't think they'd mind if Ruby slept there for _one_ night.

He sat her down, looking over her for a second before reaching up and unpinning her cloak, working for a minute to get it out from under her before hanging it on the bedpost. He leaned down, tugging on Ruby's boots for a bit before they, at last, came off, exposing her stockings. He looked up, face burning red as he slammed a hand over his eyes. "_Reeeeeeally should've thought this through… I mean, she's wearing a SKIRT! THINK JAUNE, THINK!_" he wanted to kick himself for not realizing. He grabbed Ruby's rifle off her back, trying to be as delicate as possible with his new friend's 'baby', sitting it down near her boots. He moved around, dragging Ruby to where she was facing the right way on the bed before pulling the covers over her.

Ruby just smiled, grabbing the covers and pulling them tighter around her, her little face nuzzling into the bed, her little nose the lowest thing Jaune could see. He turned off the light, walking out and shutting the door behind him. He walked back into the living room, sitting down on the couch and pulling out his scroll. He looked over his notes, frowning slightly, "_I've changed so much just by KNOWING Ruby… how many of these things will never happen now?_" he thought. The conquest of Vale, the Anima-Valean wars, the Atlesian onslaught, the battle for Beacon- all null and void because Ruby would be going to Beacon at a different time…

All because she'd met him.

He shook his head, looking through the rest of his notes. The thing about changing the past? _Everything_ changed, no matter how small the change you made was. He'd learned that a long time ago. He went through his notes, crossing out many of the things Ruby would supposedly do in the future, looking over at the few events he thought _wouldn't_ be impacted. "_Let's see, the fall maiden's arrival shouldn't be changed because Ruby got into Beacon early should it? She should already be on her way… that means Ozpin's already starting his plan._" he thought. The one thing he was glad about? It would take time.

Jaune had time.

He had more time than anyone in the world.

He looked through his scroll for a few more minutes before he felt a yawn crawl from his throat, a wave of tiredness washing over him. He powered off his scroll, casually setting it aside before leaning down, taking off his shoes and kicking them off to the side. He pulled his feet up on the couch, letting out a sigh as he leaned back on the pillow. He didn't bother stripping down and changing into his sleepwear. He was fine as he was. He shut his eyes, his breathing evening out as he drifted off to sleep.

…

"Hungry…"

Ruby muttered. She'd been awakened not by her body no longer needing sleep, but by her stomach growling from its lack of nutrients. She slowly sat up, looking around for a minute. She saw the white walls, the pictures hanging on said walls, the windows showing just the faintest rays of the sun. She looked down, raising an eyebrow when she saw her stocking covered feet greeting her. She looked around for a bit, letting out a sigh of relief as she saw her boots nearby, right next to crescent rose. She turned her head, about to grab her cloak when she looked down, finding herself in the same clothes as last night.

The night prior came back to her in flashes, vague recollections of how she'd ended up here. She felt a smile crawling onto her face even as she yawned. She'd made it into Beacon… it was still hard for her to believe that it wasn't a dream. She hopped off the bed, grabbing her scroll from her pocket and checking the time. "_Wow, it's… six in the morning… Jaune's probably not awake yet._" she thought, slowly walking to the door. She pouted as she felt her combat skirt rubbing against her, her hair clinging to her scalp even as she blew it away. She _hated_ waking up in the morning to find she was grimy and covered in sweat.

She walked into the living room, a small smile finding her face as she saw Jaune nearby. He was sleeping, his eyes dashing beneath their lids as his hands lay over his belly. Ruby took a few steps toward him, eyes immediately flicking down to his scroll. She slowly approached, leaning down and tapping the screen. Sure enough, it came on. It wasn't even locked. "_What am I doing? It's HIS scroll… I shouldn't be snooping around in his things…_" of course, that thought didn't stop her from grabbing it, walking to the other couch and doing just that. Her eyes kept flicking back up to Jaune at the slightest noise, ready to put his scroll back and dashing into the other room.

Even so, she kept searching through it. She raised an eyebrow when she saw her name listed twice. "_Did he accidentally make two contacts? Huh… same number too…_" she thought, contemplating deleting one. Of course, she realized immediately afterward that if she wanted Jaune not to know about her snooping, it was _probably_ a good idea to leave the scroll the way it was. She kept looking through it, searching through some of the apps before she found something… different. She raised an eyebrow as she flicked the screen to the right, to the third page of apps she herself would never use. In the center, she saw one that was just a clock.

She flicked back to the first page to confirm her initial suspicions: it wasn't the alarm app. She flicked back ahead, her curiosity getting the better of her as she clicked on it. Immediately she was greeted with a rather simplistic looking interface. She saw today's date was in the center, down to the seconds and counting up, with a date set almost eighty years in the future frozen right above it. Below, there was what looked to be yesterday's date, a few minutes before she'd met Jaune if she had to guess. She tapped the bottom one, raising an eyebrow as it suddenly shifted around, showing her the option to scroll through the years, months, days, hours, minutes, right down to the _seconds_ of when it was.

Ruby was confused, to say the least, "_What IS this? Are these dates important or something? It seems like I can change them pretty easily though…_" she thought, experimentally scrolling down along the years. Now it was listed for a date somewhere ten years in the future. The second she did so she saw a big exclamation point at the bottom of the screen, a line of text next to it: 'Warning! Anchor not detected! Jump anyway?' next to the line of text there was a green button with a checkmark and one with a red X. Ruby felt more than a little weirded out by all of this. What the heck was this app? "_What does it mean by jumping anyway? Anchor not detected… well, I guess there's one way to find out._" she thought.

She pressed the checkmark.

Everything went white.


	2. The Second Traveler

"_What… WHAT JUST HAPPENED!?_"

Ruby was standing in the middle of a field of flowers, her eyes wide as she gripped the scroll in her hands. She looked around for a few seconds, smoke and flames in the distance. She turned back, looking off to the right to see wilderness next to her. "_Where am I? What happened!? Is this some kind of dream!?_" she thought, slowly walking around. She leaned down, a hand tugging on some of the knee-high grass. It came away in her hand. It felt like grass. Yet still, she didn't know if it was real. "There's one way to know for sure…" she muttered.

She took a breath as she balled her hand into a fist, the air flowing out of her as she slammed it into her stomach. It hurt. A _lot_. That settled it, every dream she'd ever had when she did that it never hurt. It would either go right through her or simply bounce back off her belly. With that, the grass, the uncomfortable pain in her chest, there was only one conclusion she could reach:

"This is real…"

…

Jaune opened his eyes.

He yawned, a small smile on his face as he sat up, reaching for his scroll. When his hand touched only the wood of the coffee table, he felt his heart spike in that familiar panic. His rational mind helped a bit, saying that maybe it just fell off the table. It was when he stood, walked around the table searching for it, and found nothing, that Jaune began to panic. He walked toward the bedroom, fearing the worst. He kept thinking to himself that he would see Ruby fast asleep, still snuggled up in the blankets.

Ruby was gone.

His scroll was gone.

This was bad.

"_Okay Jaune, don't panic… panic is the worst thing you can do right now. Just… it's okay, you've planned for this. Just get the backup, figure out where the scroll is and pray that Ruby hasn't figured out what it can ACTUALLY do._" he thought, walking to the other side of the bed and moving the clothes hamper aside. He forced his fingers in the space between the boards, lifting the loose one up to reveal one of his many hidden caches. In the center, he saw a pocket watch, the sister of the one he'd come to this time with. Next to it, there was a small black orb, with what looked to be metal rods sticking out of the bottom of it. He pressed down on the orb, it suddenly turning white and the rods sticking into the ground as he grabbed the watch.

He tapped on the back the same way he had the other one, hard light projecting out and turning it into a scroll a few seconds later. He went through the features before tapping on the clock, swiping to the right as he saw the dates listed. Now it showed a very different screen, displaying the current status of the many timelines. Many of them just branched off and ended, some of which kept going and disappeared off the screen, those that had fallen out of sync with this one. He gulped as he tapped the compass button on the bottom right, praying he was wrong. He saw a ping on the current timeline, then one for one parallel to it.

He was right.

Ruby had figured it out.

"_She knows, she knows, this is bad. Really, REALLY bad._" he thought, black spots on the edge of his vision as he started to hyperventilate. How had he been so careless!? How had he let this happen!? He shook his head a few times, taking a few breaths to calm himself. "Okay, Jaune… get her back first, _then_ deal with… everything else…" even so, there was _definitely_ a problem. Ruby hadn't anchored herself, which meant she was in a timeline where she simply vanished. The biggest problem with that was simple. If Jaune _didn't_ anchor himself, there'd be practically no way to get back to their timeline. If he _did_ anchor himself, he had no idea where he'd be in relation to Ruby.

"Crap, how do I… wait, OF COURSE!" he thought, kicking himself for not thinking of it sooner. Their timelines were still running parallel, which made his plan possible. He swiped back over to the central hub screen, this time swiping up to reveal two different contacts. One of them said 'Main Link', while the other said 'Backup #2'. The second one's name was rather self-explanatory, given he was holding Backup #1. He tapped on the one labeled Main Link, calling it like he would a normal scroll. Or rather, sending a voicemail to it. He walked back to the couch, sitting down and _hoping_ that Ruby would see his message.

…

Ruby heard the scroll buzz.

She looked down to find a message, raising an eyebrow as she saw who it was from. "_Backup #1? Who's that?_" she thought. She answered more out of curiosity than anything else, that and hoping it'd be someone that could help her understand what was going on. The second she answered, she saw Jaune's face, the man's face worried. Ruby let out a sigh of relief. She'd never been so happy to see someone in her _life_. A thousand questions ran through her mind, but before she could ask any of them Jaune spoke. "Ruby, listen. I'm sending you this message so that you can get back home. Follow my instructions _exactly_ and you should end up here, with me." Ruby nodded a few times.

Ruby waited for a second, raising an eyebrow when Jaune didn't seem to react. "First things first, don't do ANYTHING until you've listened to this whole message, otherwise you might skip a step and send yourself further away. You need to go to the app you used to get where you are, to the main page. You need to press on the _middle time_ and hold your finger there for three seconds. It should prompt you with the message 'Jump?' and an X and a check mark. You need to click the check mark and hold _absolutely still_ for it to work. Wouldn't want you coming back missing a few digits." he said.

"Wait, what!? I don't wanna miss any fingers!" Ruby said, her face paling at the prospect. Jaune again didn't answer, the message going away. She pouted at the scroll, taking a few breaths before opening the app. "Okay Ruby, just do what he said and… everything will be fine… right?" she muttered, _reeeeally_ hoping Jaune wasn't messing with her, as if some kind of karma for poking her nose where it shouldn't be. She held down her finger on the middle time and, sure enough, she was prompted with the message Jaune told her about. She tapped the check mark, making sure she held completely still as the scroll started glowing.

Everything went white… again.

…

"Mind telling me why you took my scroll?"

Ruby opened her eyes, both widening as she saw herself standing on the coffee table in Jaune's home, the man himself standing a few feet away. She didn't even think as she dashed toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck and crushing him in a hug. "JAUNE! OHMYGOSHWHATJUSTHAPPENED- I'MSOHAPPYTOSEEYOU!" she shouted, nearly crying into his shoulder. Jaune sighed, patting her back a few times with a slight smile on his face. He was annoyed sure but… that could wait. She was panicked, she was afraid, she had no clue what was going on. He could deal with the scroll situation in a minute.

He just held her to his body, Ruby content to stay there and spout vague thank you's and apologize to him for a few minutes. After awhile Jaune sat down, moving Ruby to sit next to him. He reached for her palm, grabbing his scroll. He frowned, "You shouldn't have taken my scroll, Ruby." Ruby felt her face turn red as she looked away, lightly tapping her index fingers together. It was made infinitely worse because she _knew_ what she did was wrong. She knew she shouldn't have been snooping around in the first place. "I'm so, _so_ sorry Jaune! It won't happen again, I promise!" she held up her left hand, her right over her heart -as if to make her point more valid.

Jaune sighed, running a hand through his hair. "We can discuss… what you saw, later. You must be starving." he said, giving a faint smile. Ruby was about to answer when her stomach did for her, grumbling loud enough that Jaune could hear it… again. Ruby felt her face turn red as she just nodded, pointing to her belly, "What she said." Jaune couldn't help but laugh at that, standing up and walking toward the kitchen. He left both his scrolls in the living room.

Ruby didn't touch either.

She didn't _dare_.

Instead, she stood, walking into the kitchen and sitting at the small island in the center, watching as Jaune took out eggs and a frying pan. "So… uh, can you explain-" "You should take a shower, Ruby. The eggs won't be done for awhile." Jaune said, interrupting her. Ruby just nodded a few times. She knew he was trying to avoid the topic, hopefully get her to forget about it. As if she could ever forget about _that_. She pushed off the island, stopping just before she cleared the living room. "Umm, is there anything I could wear here?" she asked.

Jaune didn't turn from the eggs, "Yeah, just look in the closet next to the bedroom. I think there might be some clothes your size in there." Ruby gave a meek reply as she turned, opening the door nearby. Her eyes widened as she saw row upon row of clothes, with pairs of underwear and bras of varying sizes stacked up along the floor. She slowly walked forward, looking around for a bit before she found some of her size. She frowned when she saw no skirts, instead settling for a pair of loose fitting jeans. The shirt took a bit longer, with her eventually settling on a black t-shirt that was a bit too long for her, with the emblem of Vale on the front.

She took them into the bathroom, locking the door and stripping down, all the while thinking about what had happened to her. "_Okay Ruby, just think it through. You were looking through Jaune's scroll… which, is also apparently a time machine or a teleporter or… SOMETHING… and you… transported somewhere or sometime… this is harder than I thought…_" she thought, yelping as she leaped back from the cold water in the shower. She'd been so distracted she'd not thought to figure out how the shower _actually_ worked.

Meanwhile, Jaune finished fixing the eggs, laying two plates out. He'd given Ruby more eggs than him, on account of him having eaten most of the hot wings last night and her having gone to bed with only one in her belly. He also gave her the last of the milk, given they were completely out of it and he'd just take an energy drink anyway. Given Ruby's excitable nature, he had a feeling giving it to her was a _VERY BAD IDEA_. He sat down on the island, starting to eat his eggs as he heard what sounded like… singing? He let the eggs on his fork fall back to the plate as he stood, walking toward the bathroom.

"_Reeeed like Roooo-seeeees fiiiiills my dreeeeeeams and briiiiings meeee toooooo the plaaaaace yoooou reeeest~._"

He stopped near the door, slowly turning his head toward it. Was that Ruby? It sounded vaguely like her but… "_Wow, she's… got a REALLY pretty singing voice…_" he thought, his face tinting pink as he heard her continue. He wasn't really sure what the song was about, but he had to admit he liked the melody.

"_White is cold and always yearning, buuuuurdened by… a royal teeeeest…_"

He couldn't help but smile as he leaned against the wall… he wasn't sure why the singing made him nostalgic. He'd never been close friends with Ruby in any timeline he'd been in. On any adventure he went on, Ruby was sometimes there but, it was usually just as a random figure on the sidelines. Not as someone right there with him. Suddenly her voice dropped a bit, a shiver running down Jaune's spine as she continued.

"_Blaaack the beeeeast deeee-scends from shaaa-dows. Yeeeee-llow beau-ty buuuuuuuurns… goooold…_"

"DUN DUN DA DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN DA DUN DUN!" Jaune covered his mouth with his hand as he pictured Ruby jamming out with a fake guitar, making all the noises with her mouth. He couldn't help but laugh at the image. He turned to walk away, heading back into the kitchen to finish his eggs, leaving Ruby to her music. He'd just finished eating when he heard the door open. He turned his head, smiling as he saw Ruby walking toward him, clad in what looked to be one of Ora's old outfits. Her hair was still visibly wet as she walked forward, and Jaune could vaguely smell roses… even though he was _fairly_ certain there was no rose scented shampoo or gel in there.

"Scrambled eggs?" she asked. Jaune nodded a few times, pulling the seat next to him out a bit. Ruby walked right past it, over to the fridge and grabbing out a bottle of ketchup, sitting down. Jaune raised an eyebrow, "You eat… ketchup? On your eggs?" he asked. Ruby just nodded a few times, the smile on her face saying one thing, but the look in her eyes _daring_ him to challenge her on this. She would proclaim to her _death_ that ketchup and scrambled eggs were a good combination! TO HER DEATH!

Jaune just shrugged, taking a sip from his drink before sitting it down, pulling out his scroll. Ruby's eyes widened as she lunged forward, grabbing his hands, "I'M REALLY SORRY! PLEASE DON'T DO IT!" she shouted, squeezing her eyes shut as she held tight to his figure. Jaune raised an eyebrow, confused as to what she meant. Was she referring to time travel? What could he… oh, wait. "Ruby… Ruby, it's okay. Ruby… hmm," he wrapped his arms around her, the girl yelping as he lifted her onto the counter, pulling his hands and scroll away from her after a second. "Listen, I can't go back and make it so you were never born or something. Time travel doesn't work like that." he said slowly.

"Then how does it work?" she asked, grabbing her plate and eating her eggs. Jaune didn't bother telling her to come off the island, rather just letting her sit up there and eat while looking down at him. "It's… complicated. To put it simply… well… not really sure how to put this…" he muttered, rubbing his chin. He'd never talked so _openly_ about time travel before… he wasn't honestly sure how to explain something he spent most of his time _hiding_. Ruby took a sip of milk and… okay, Jaune couldn't ignore it anymore. "Okay, _how?_ _How_, Ruby?" he said, gesturing at her choice in food.

Ruby gave him a slight glare, "Ish a guud combinashon." she said, a bit of spittle and egg flying from her lips. Jaune just ran a hand over his face, then running it back through his hair. He was suddenly aware of how oily it was, and how he probably needed to shower at some point today too. "Keep eating, we'll talk after I'm done in the shower." he said, taking his energy drink and scroll(s) with him. Ruby just watched as he walked into the closet, walking out and into the other room in seconds. Meanwhile, she just ate her ketchup coated eggs, smiling when at last she was finished. With her belly full, it was easier to think.

She walked toward the bathroom, glass of milk in hand, stopping when she heard… humming? Was that humming? She pressed her little ear against the doorknob, hearing not humming but, a vague singing. She couldn't really make out the words, but she could tell Jaune was the one doing so. "Huh… the time traveler can sing… who knew?" Ruby muttered, taking a sip of milk. She was still having a hard time believing _any_ of it was real. The time travel, the fact she was accepted to Beacon, _any_ of it! Just the other day she was a normal girl from Patch going to Signal like so many others… now all the sudden she was traveling through time with a guy she'd met just yesterday!

Ruby froze as she heard the door open, her ear suddenly pressed against something much softer than a doorknob. She slowly looked up, finding her head leaned against Jaune's belly. "Uh… you have a nice singing voice?" she said, feeling heat slowly building on her face. Jaune just smiled, looking away and rubbing at the back of his head, his face much the same as Ruby's.

"Uh, thanks… you do too. Oh, and you're pretty good at making guitar noises." he said, a little smirk on his face as Ruby went bright red. Why it hadn't connected in her mind that if she could hear him he could _definitely_ hear her she wasn't sure. She stepped back, pressing flush against the bedroom door as her face once more matched her namesake. Her eyes trailed down Jaune's figure, finding that he'd opted for a simple pair of jeans and a plain black hoodie, with a t-shirt beneath it if the hint of white was anything to go by.

The two walked into the living room, Jaune sitting down and laying his scrolls on the table. "So uh… are we… gonna _talk_ about… you know…" Ruby trailed off. Jaune just sighed, sitting back in his place on the couch. Ruby sat down on the opposite couch, her legs pressed together as her hands clamped down on her knees, trying to take up as little space as possible. She wasn't sure why but, she felt oddly small compared to Jaune at the moment, and she _wasn't_ just referring to her height.

Jaune downed the rest of his drink before he grabbed his scrolls. "Look, Ruby, it's… I'm going to _try_ and make this easy to understand but… try and remember I spend most of my time _hiding_ the fact that I can do this it…" he sighed, "It's a bit _weird_ talking about it like this." he said. Ruby just nodded a few times. She could understand why at least. If she spent all her time not talking about how she still slept in a beowolf onesie, it would be weird for her to explain it too… not that she still did that or anything… yeah…

"Okay well… think of it like this. Every time someone goes back in time, they don't go back to the _same_ time. Well, they do but… think of it as a tree. Branches. When someone goes back, a new branch sprouts out of the original tree. It runs parallel to the original for awhile before it goes off on its own… understand so far? I warn you it only gets weirder from here." he said. Ruby nodded a few times. Time branches off… so that meant no stopping her from being born that would affect her or anything… so nothing done in the past could possibly affect the present? "_Well, that's unfortunate… aaaaactually that's probably for the best._" she thought, realizing just how bad it would get if everything Jaune could do in the past messed with the present.

"Okay, remember how you saw my message in the future?" Ruby nodded. "Well, what you were seeing was a recording. Those two branches were parallel, which meant anything _I_ did could impact the future _you_ were seeing. So I recorded a message for you earlier, and ten years later you saw it and used it to get home shortly after I recorded the message." he said.

Ruby slowly nodded… that _would_ explain why Jaune hadn't responded to any of her questions. Of course, it made sense communication across time wasn't possible in _that_ sense. Though, that _did_ leave her with another question. "Wait, if you left the message because I was in the future… and that future was made because I wasn't in the present, wouldn't that mean you'd have never made the message when I came back because there was no need to? But then even if you left it on there I wasn't there anymore which means-"

"Ruby! Calm down," Jaune said, no doubt noticing her brain working on overdrive. "Those are good questions, and the reason none of that happened was that I anchored myself to this time. You got the message about not being anchored before you jumped through time, right?" Ruby nodded. So _that_ was what that message had meant… if only she'd known that beforehand… if only she hadn't pressed the button at _all_ beforehand come to think of it. Could Jaune go back and change -wait no, no he couldn't, they'd already been over this.

Jaune stood, grabbing Ruby's wrist and pulling the unresisting girl into the bedroom. Ruby looked over, eyes wide as she saw what looked to be floorboards moved around, a small, white orb seemingly anchored into the ground. "That's the anchor?" she could put two and two together on how it got its name. Jaune nodded a few times, reaching into his pocket and pulling out one of his scrolls, sitting it down on the ground before tapping on the anchor, it suddenly turning black as Jaune picked it up, sliding the floorboards and hamper back over the place his scroll was hidden.

He set the small device in his pocket, "What the anchor does is 'anchor' me into one particular timeline. It means that even if I time travel away from it, it keeps my body in the timeline. If I ever travel to a time where I was still alive -like in the time you were in for example- then I'd just suddenly be in my body wherever I was at that time, instead of making two of me. That and it keeps the future from getting too messed up because I still exist and still do all the things that would keep the future the way it is… well, minus the time travel that I'd probably do to change the future… like I said, it gets complicated." he said, rubbing behind his head.

Ruby just nodded, "So, that's why you didn't just travel to the future to get me?" Jaune nodded. If he'd gone to the future to get her, things would've gotten _infinitely_ more complicated. He wasn't really sure what would've happened, but it would _not_ have been good, of that he was certain. "If I'd have traveled to the future to get you, there's no telling what could've happened. If I hadn't anchored myself actually getting _back_ to the right time would've been almost impossible. I didn't think you'd want to spend the rest of your life ten years in the future." Ruby shook her head no.

Jaune sighed, "Okay… I'm going to regret asking this but, any more questions?" he had a feeling Ruby had more. He also had the distinct feeling that some of those questions he wasn't going to be able to answer. Ruby just nodded a few times, "Yeah. Where did you _get_ these time machines?" Jaune smiled. He knew that was going to be one of her questions. If the roles were reversed, he knew for a _fact_ that would be the first thing he'd ask. After all, he'd asked if she had any questions.

He never said he'd answer them.

"Any _other_ questions?" Ruby pouted. Then again, after what had just happened, maybe it was for the best she didn't know where the time machines had come from. She scratched her chin, trying to think of anything else. Though, only one thing came to mind: "What do we do now?" that _had_ to be her number two pick for questions she most wanted answered. Jaune looked at her for a second, rubbing his chin in thought. He… hadn't honestly thought of that. What _did_ they do now? He was tempted to say just go about their lives but… could they? After Ruby had seen what she did…

Jaune stood, sitting down next to Ruby. "Look, whatever comes next, you have to promise me you won't tell _anyone_ about this, okay?" Ruby nodded, giving a brief smile, her eyes lingering slightly on his shoulder. She let out a little yelp as Jaune took her hands in his, pulling them in front of him and gazing into her eyes. "This is serious Ruby. Look me in the eye and swear that you won't tell _anyone_ I'm a time traveler -or that time travel even _exists_ come to think of it." he said. Ruby was frozen by the steel in his eyes, the command of his voice. Just a few hours ago she'd have never imagined Jaune to be capable of such a thing. She could only think of one response to it:

"I promise."

Jaune gave her a faint smile before he stood, letting her hands fall back into her lap. "Well, now that _that's_ settled, I get the feeling you should call your family. They're probably worried." he felt a bit of guilt relating to his _own_ family as he said that. A bit ironic that he was telling Ruby that when he himself was guilty of something infinitely worse. At least Ruby hadn't _meant_ for such a thing to happen. The girl's face paled as she dashed away, leaving Jaune with a small collection of rose petals fluttering to the ground.

The girl dashed to her discarded outfit from the previous night, grabbing her scroll from her pocket. Oddly enough, she had no missed calls. She had no messages from her father or sister… then she saw what time it was. "_Oh, right it's… not even seven o'clock yet. They probably aren't up._" she thought. After all, the only reason _she_ was awake was that she'd been hungry. She wadded up her clothes, walking into the other room and looping her belt through the jeans, attaching crescent rose in its rifle state along the back of it before she grabbed her cloak, smiling as she pulled the soft, red fabric around her.

"I thought you were going to call them?" Jaune asked, leaning on the doorway. Ruby turned, giving him a faint smile as she pulled her boots on, tucking the jeans into them. She jumped off the bed, "I was but, then I remembered it's Sunday… and before seven o'clock…" she trailed off. Jaune understood. His own sleep schedule might have been screwed up but, he could still understand a relatively normal one. Most people wouldn't go to bed in the early hours of the morning and then wake up sometime around seven. "Right… so uh, how long will it take you to get home?" he asked.

Ruby frowned, reminded of her home's distance. "If I start walking now? Hours… hours, Jaune…" she felt her shoulders sink slightly. Jaune frowned… Ruby could see his conflict. She could see in those blue eyes an internal debate, likely relating to something she said. She wasn't sure what it _was_ but, she hoped it would end well for her. Jaune sighed after a second, "Well… seeing as you already know, I guess there isn't much harm in it." he muttered, pulling out his scroll. Ruby felt a strange mixture of excitement and terror. Excitement because it was likely something to do with time travel.

And terror… because it was likely something to do with time travel.

Jaune walked over to her, looping his elbow through hers. "I warn you, this might feel weird." he said. Ruby raised an eyebrow, watching as he swiped down on what she guessed was his 'time travel app', showing what looked to be an image of a stopwatch. Jaune tapped the screen once, and suddenly Ruby understood why he'd said it. She felt… odd. She couldn't really put her finger on it but she felt… odd. As if something were watching her; as if someone was gazing at her that _really_ shouldn't have been… why couldn't she put her finger on it?

Jaune snapped her out of it by moving his hand in front of her face, her blinking and looking at him. Jaune smiled, letting go of her and walking into another room. She followed, raising an eyebrow as he came back out with what looked to be a sword and shield. "Are… those your weapons?" she would've expected something a bit more… flashy or, futuristic looking for the time traveler. Though, Jaune just nodded, sheathing the blade in one of his two belts (that Ruby had just now noticed beneath the hoodie) while he collapsed the shield on his arm. He reached down and grabbed what looked to be a small backpack, tossing it at her. "For your clothes." he explained.

As soon as she'd stuffed her clothes in the bag, Jaune took her hand, opening the door. Ruby stepped out, looking around for a moment. Everything seemed… normal. The same houses that were there last night, the same road, the same neighborhood, the same everything. It looked as if everything was exactly the same. Jaune took her wrist again, starting to walk down the road. Ruby followed, eyes flicking around, trying to find anything different… she couldn't. Everything looked the same. At least, until they entered the city.

"You froze time…"

She saw cars stopped in the middle of the road, people frozen while still walking about, someone in the middle of eating a hot dog. It was as though Jaune had taken a picture of the world, and she and Jaune had walked right into it. Jaune smiled, "Yeah. Normally I don't do it but, since you've already time traveled I guess it's really no big deal if you see some of the other things I can do. That and, I'd hate for you to get in trouble because of me." he said, lightly rubbing behind his head. Ruby smiled, eyes wide in wonder as she looked around Vale. Everything was so different when it was frozen… or at least, it _seemed_ that way to Ruby.

To Jaune? It was actually fairly normal. He didn't freeze time that often, on account of how that could screw up the timelines but, in instances like this he was willing to make an exception. After all, all he and Ruby were doing was walking across the city and into Patch. No one could see them while time was frozen so, there wouldn't be _that_ much of an impact. Especially since he'd frozen time while still in his house.

The two walked about ten minutes before Ruby looked up at him, "Hey Jaune, have you ever taken anyone-" "No." Jaune didn't let her finish. The double meaning behind his word wasn't lost on Ruby, the girl pouting slightly at him. She looked away, crossing her arms and huffing as she started walking a bit faster. Jaune sighed, fighting down that feeling of guilt. "Ruby it's not personal. I don't take anyone with me because more people are easier to see and more likely to screw things up then one is." Ruby couldn't deny the logic on that one.

Still she pouted, still she walked along the same way. Jaune sighed, setting his scroll away (not that he'd need it for awhile anyway) before he laid a hand on her shoulder. "Ruby… are you seriously playing this game with me?" he said, both a bit annoyed and slightly amused. To think Ruby was trying to play the temper tantrum game with _him_, someone that had been to countless times and places, someone that knew more about time travel than almost anyone alive. He wasn't sure what was worse: the fact that they were playing the game at all,

Or the fact that she was winning.

Jaune sighed, "Ruby, I'm already doing more for you than I've _ever_ done for anyone else. You're the second person in _history_ to time travel." Ruby still pouted and walked on. Jaune sighed, biting his lip as he tried to fight his growing self-hatred. The fact that he was making the sweet girl mad at him (however much of an act he believed it was) upset him more than it should have. He sighed, "Look, I can't just take you all across time like that! There are _limits_ Ruby!" Ruby turned, still pouting at him. Though, now her eyes were curious.

"What _kind _of limits?" Jaune just sighed in relief. Better asking questions than continually pouting at him to do something he just couldn't. He looked around for a few seconds, feeling them walking onto the land-bridge between Patch and Vale. "It doesn't happen a lot but, there are times when time will freeze -like now- except without any warning. It happens when a paradox is about to occur, which would theoretically tear time apart. Think of it like a medically induced coma, where the body is time, using all of its energy to heal. It happened when I didn't anchor myself and landed in the middle of an Arc family reunion." he let out a nervous chuckle… that had not been a good idea, he freely admitted that. Though in his defense, he _had_ only just discovered time travel at the time.

Ruby giggled, turning around and continuing to walk along, seemingly in a bit better of a mood. Though, of course, Jaune knew the silence wouldn't last. "So… why did you come here anyway?" that got Jaune to stop in his tracks. Ruby turned around about ten steps later, realizing her companion was no longer right behind her. She walked back over to him, seeing his eyes gazing sternly ahead, a thousand miles away. Ruby thought it would be bad but… nothing. _Nothing_ could have prepared her for what he said.

"Because being the last human alive didn't really appeal to me."


	3. Fun in the Frozen Sun

"Wait… what!?"

Jaune sighed… he knew he shouldn't have told her that. He could see the worry and fear in her eyes, exactly what had gathered in his when he first became able to time travel. "Look it's… it's a possible future that won't happen now. Just by meeting you I've changed it… nothing to worry about anymore." that was one thing about being a time traveler: you could never get too attached. Most everything was temporary, and if you needed something it was incredibly easy to just go back and get it, or go forward and get something better.

Ruby, of course, didn't sense this inner monologue, only letting out a sigh of relief before turning back around, walking toward her home. She was humming her favorite song still, swinging her arms a bit more than she needed to as Jaune stretched his legs out a bit to keep up. He couldn't help but smile at her. It was the little things he liked best. The little, intangible things that left memories instead of objects. He didn't doubt for a second that Ruby was a lot like Ozpin, Kali and Sienna. Didn't leave a lot of objects, but left _plenty_ of memories behind. They were people he'd never forget.

And honestly? He didn't think he'd _ever_ forget Ruby.

The girl had been the first person (barring himself) to travel through time, and with the way she acted, he doubted he'd be able to block her from his thoughts for a few centuries -if at all. "_Then again… not sure if I'd want to forget this little strawberry._" he thought, smiling as he saw Ruby twirling around, staggering a bit as she stumbled from the bridge onto the sidewalk. They were in Patch now, he guessed. Ruby turned around, wiping at her brow, "Hey, can you do something to make it cooler out here?" she asked.

Jaune just nodded, a small smirk on his face as he walked over to her. Ruby was about to say something when her eyes widened, realizing what he was doing. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH MY CLOAK!" she shouted, pulling the red hood closer to her. Jaune smiled, holding up his hands. She'd figured him out rather quickly, he'd give her that. He crossed his arms, leaning back slightly as he walked, "Given that restriction, no. I've got nothing." Ruby frowned, turning back ahead as bullets of sweat formed on her brow. It seemed to be getting hotter if anything.

She and Jaune walked another two minutes before Ruby groaned, "It's _so_ hot…" she muttered. Jaune, who'd already taken off his hoodie and tied it around his waist at this point, just nodded, wiping his brow as well. The problem with freezing time? No wind or cool breeze. Ruby looked around for a bit, eyes flicking to the coast. "Hey Jaune, you wanna go swimming?" she asked. Jaune raised an eyebrow, looking over toward the coastline. Given the heat, going swimming _did_ sound quite appealing right now. "Did you steal a swimsuit I wasn't aware of?" he knew she didn't, he'd have noticed if anything was missing.

Ruby glared at him, "No! Of course not!" she couldn't _believe_ the nerve of him, assuming she'd steal somethi- actually wait hold on… ooookay she could see where the concern came from. Jaune looked over, "You realize you don't have a towel _or_ a swimsuit then, right?" he said. Ruby just nodded a few times. Jaune, frankly, didn't care all that much. He could get a pair of swim trunks in seconds anyway.

He just shrugged, "Alright then, where should we leave our stuff?" Ruby just pointed at a large tree nearby, one far enough from the sand Jaune wasn't worried about any of it getting on anything. He just nodded, him and Ruby both walking toward it. Jaune took the side closer to the road, laying his hoodie on the ground as Ruby walked to the other side. He emptied his pockets, sitting his scroll and the small, black cube on the ground. He pulled off his shirt, tossing it to the ground before taking off his shoes and socks, laying them next to a nearby root. He'd just taken his two belts off when he saw Ruby peak her head around the side, her bare shoulder touched by her hair.

"Hey um, don't lo… don't look over here." Ruby said, shaking her head slightly before pulling back around, her face slowly running red. Jaune, in the meantime, just raised an eyebrow toward her. Though, he shrugged after a second, chalking it up to Ruby not wanting him to see her naked. He pulled off his pants and underwear, setting them aside. He leaned against the tree, picking up his scroll and accessing the black cubes remote functions. He smiled as it opened, hard light coming out and manifesting the outline of a pair of swim trunks. He pressed another button, a hole on the side of the cube opening and sucking in air, the outline suddenly filling with the same fabric his normal swim trunks were made of.

"_Glad I had that template on hand._" he thought as he pulled them on, tying the string at the end before turning off his scroll, powering down the cube. He was also glad he had the towel template as well. "Ready Ruby?" he asked. Rather than an answer, he saw Ruby walk around the side, her face bright pink as she looked at him. Her eyes trailed down him for a moment, stopping on his swim trunks. "Hey! Where'd you get those?" she didn't recall him carrying a swimsuit with him.

Jaune gave a little smirk, "Sorry, trade secret." Ruby glared at him for a second as Jaune took notice of her attire. He had to give her credit where it was do, he hadn't anticipated she'd just wear her own underwear from the night before. They were already dirty so, he guessed it couldn't really do _that_ much harm to soak them in seawater. Ruby turned away, starting to run toward the ocean. Jaune watched for a second before he followed. Ruby dashed in… then right back out, rubbing her legs slightly. Jaune gave her a little smile, "Cold?"

She shoved his arm, "Shut up!" the hurtful tone was kind of offset by the playful smile on her face. Jaune just smiled right back before turning, casually diving into the water. Ruby watched, jaw dropping as she saw the Arc casually swimming in what was -to her- _freezing_ cold water. Jaune emerged a few seconds later, hair covering his face before he swiped it out of the way. "Come on in! Water's fine!" it was fine… for him anyway. Then again, when he'd been swimming in the freezing cold waters of Atlas just a few days (debatable) ago? This water was a _sauna_.

Ruby grit her teeth, taking a few steps back before dashing ahead. Had she intended to activate her super speed? No. Had she intended to create a wave that pushed Jaune back about ten feet? No. Had she intended to keep moving until she was suddenly out in the middle of the water?

_Definitely_ not!

Ruby suddenly submerged pushing herself up and gasping for air, the shock of cold sending it out of her. Jaune felt his eyes widen as she started swimming toward her, powerful strokes fueled partly by adrenaline and partly by his aura. Ruby pushed her head up, spitting out water as she felt her heart racing, panic taking over. She felt pressure on her waist, her body suddenly falling under someone else's control. "Shh shh Ruby! Ruby, it's okay, you're safe… you're safe…" she heard Jaune say. Ruby felt her heart slowing as she looked around, turning to see brilliant blue eyes gazing down at her.

She looked down, both her and Jaune's face turning red as they realized Ruby had clung onto him seemingly for dear life, her body wrapped tight around his own as he was treading water. Jaune moved one hand off Ruby, the other still on her back, "Let's… get a bit closer to shore, okay?" he said, giving a disarming smile at the girl. Ruby nodded a few times, slowly moving her feet off him and gently kicking along, letting him guide her back to shore. Jaune stood after a second, Ruby standing up a moment later… well, sort of. While Jaune stood just fine, his shoulders above the water, Ruby's mouth and nose were still below it.

Jaune smiled, pulling her a bit closer to him, her feet pressing lightly on his own to raise her mouth above the water. He laid his hands on her shoulders, "Are you okay, Ruby?" Ruby nodded a few times. She was startled, sure, but she would be fine. It wasn't like she couldn't swim… well, sort of. It seemed Jaune picked up on this train of thought, his eyes looking around them. "You uh… you _do_ know how to swim, right?" there was a sort of playful teasing in his eyes, something that reminded Ruby _far_ too much of Yang to be comfortable with.

She pouted, "Of _course_ I can swim! I… well I'm, used to pools…" Jaune gave her a look. He knew she was hiding something. Ruby sighed, "Okay, kiddy pools, but I can still swim! … kind of…" Ruby looked away, her face burning red as Jaune's smile just got wider and wider. He walked the two of them closer to shore, to the point that most of his chest was exposed, Ruby's shoulders just slipping out of the water whenever he got closer. "Ruby, if you can't swim, that's nothing to be ashamed of. _Lots_ of people can't swim!" Ruby glared at him for a moment before she sighed, moving back slightly toward the shallower water.

"Okay I… don't tell anyone I can't swim, okay?" she said, deflating a bit as she sunk into the water. For someone of her age going into _her_ profession to not be able to swim? It wasn't just unheard of, it was _pathetic_. She _really_ hoped one of Beacon's grades wasn't judged off of swimming ability. Jaune smiled, one hand on Ruby's back, the other taking her hand. "I won't have to tell them if you learn." Ruby's eyes widened slightly… was he serious? Ruby leaned back a bit, looking away from him.

"Thanks but… you really don't have to. You've already done so much for me…" if he was doing this all out of some sense of guilt -and Ruby _really_ hoped he wasn't- then he was going a bit too far. He'd already given her a place to spend the night, food, _and_ a way out of one of her father's numerous lectures -hopefully anyway. Jaune just shook his head, "I never said I was going to teach you… well, not all _right now_ anyway. It takes time, but you'll get there. For now, maybe stick to the shallows." he said.

Ruby just nodded, giving a faint smile to him as he let go, letting her float back a bit. She more or less just bounded across, kicking up little volcanoes of sand in the clear water. She looked up, eyes wide as she saw Jaune swimming. Something registered in her mind, something that she'd suspected but hadn't really accepted just yet.

Jaune wasn't good at swimming.

He was a _fish_.

Ruby honestly didn't think she could move as fast as he could in the water, even _with_ her super speed. She just sat there, watching as waves formed from his strokes, his body streamlined as he dove beneath the water, as if a torpedo zipping past her. She watched him go under again, suddenly bolting toward her like an arrow. She froze as Jaune moved around, curving his body so that he suddenly surfacing behind her. She turned, awestruck. He smiled, "All comes with time Ruby. All comes with time." he pat her shoulder before he moved back a bit, floating on his back and staring up at the sky.

Ruby tried to do the same, floating onto her back, only to suddenly plunge into the water. She came up sputtering, wet, and with Jaune smiling at her. "You've got to spread out your weight over the water, try to avoid your center mass." he said simply. Ruby glared for a moment before she tried again, pressing her body up a bit. She arched her back a bit too much, sending her head under. She focused, managing to pull back and salvage what she could, smiling as she laid up. "There you go! See? Just takes practice." Jaune said, doing a near expert backstroke toward her.

"Show off…" Ruby muttered. Apparently not that quietly, as Jaune pulled himself back upright, giving her a playful smirk and a glare. He bounded over toward her, his head next to hers. "_That's_ not showing off Ruby. _This_ is showing off." at that he dove under the water, sending Ruby sputtering and upright as she looked around, raising an eyebrow. She saw a vague stream of bubbles leading under the water but, she wasn't really sure where Jaune went. "Jaune?... Jaaaaune? Where'd you gooooo?" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth in a megaphone. She looked around for a bit, only for her eyes to widen as she saw a bright, white light coming from beneath the waves.

"WOOOO-HOOOOO!"

Ruby watched in disbelief as Jaune leaped into the air, legs glowing brilliant white as he fell back down, splashing into the water with enough force to send a wave that pushed her back -and she was thirty feet away! Jaune surfaced a moment later, swimming back over to her. "Hu… HOW!? HOW DID YOU DO THAT?! YOU FLEW LIKE A HUNDRED FEET IN THE AIR!" Ruby yelled, unable to contain her shock. That… _no_. That should _not_ have been possible for any human being -even for most _fish faunus_ that should be impossible.

Jaune shook his head, "For one thing, it was closer to thirty-five feet. To answer your question, I just charged my legs with my aura and launched off the seafloor. You could probably do it better than I can with how your semblance works." he said. Ruby didn't close her mouth, still staring at him slack-jawed. That is, until Jaune reached over, closing her mouth for her. He still held a prideful little smirk as he lightly pulled Ruby back toward the shore, figuring they'd spent enough time in the waves… well, the water anyway. There weren't _actually_ any waves (barring those he and Ruby made) since there was no wind… close enough though.

Ruby let herself be led up to the beach, Jaune taking them off to the right a bit so they were walking on stones rather than sand. While it was a bit more painful for Ruby, she could also understand why. She wouldn't want any sand in her shoes either. Jaune guided them down the path, stopping near the side and grabbing a little, black box. He set it aside, holding up a finger to shush the question already forming on Ruby's lips. He grabbed his scroll, pressing a few buttons as the box whirred to life, sending blue light forward and sucking air in, creating what Ruby recognized as a towel. He pressed a few buttons and did it again, creating an identical white towel to the first one.

"Atomic reconstruction, before you ask. I don't think it really takes off in your lifetime… maybe toward the end of your granddaughter's if you have one, not sure." Ruby's question died on her lips. She just accepted it, grabbing the top towel and walking back over to her side of the tree. Both of them stripped off their swimwear (well, Jaune's swimwear and Ruby's underwear) and started toweling off. Ruby's mind was still whirring with everything Jaune had been able to do in the span of… what? Twenty minutes? Time wasn't moving so, did such time stamps even really _exist_? She wrapped the towel around her, looking at the tree.

"_Shouldn't I be freaking out about this more? Why am I just… accepting it?_" she thought. It was, hands down, the _weirdest_ thing that had ever happened to her. Yet here she was, swimming with him in the ocean with time stopped all around them, toweling off with something that _literally_ came from thin air. "You ready Ruby?" she heard Jaune asked. Ruby looked up… she'd not even put her underwear on yet. Jaune looked over, raising an eyebrow before his face turned red, him dashing back around the tree. "I'll wait! Take your time!" Ruby couldn't help but giggle at his high-pitched, embarrassed voice.

When she actually _was_ dressed this time she walked around the side, smiling as she saw Jaune dressed the same way he was, including with the hoodie around his waist. He held out a hand, "Ready to go?" Ruby nodded, slipping her hand into his larger one as the two set off. Ruby took the lead rather quickly, Jaune having no clue where he was _actually_ going. He just kept looking around, his eyes taking in sights he'd probably seen a thousand times before. Ruby just absently looked around, the sights she _knew_ she'd seen a thousand times before. She just let her mind wander, as she so often did.

Then she thought of something.

"Hey, Jaune," said man turned, blue eyes meeting silver. "If you turn back time or, freeze time or, whatever… will I know it too or…" Jaune just nodded, giving her a faint smile. Ruby smiled right back, squeezing his hand a bit tighter. She was glad for that at least. That everything they'd done she wouldn't suddenly forget because Jaune had to turn back time again. They walked the rest of the way in companionable silence, something that was rather foreign to Ruby -but not at all unwelcome. Ruby felt her stomach twist slightly, her eyes widening as she saw birds start flying across the sky, sound returning to her.

She turned, seeing Jaune putting his scroll away. She raised an eyebrow, but Jaune only smiled. "Probably easier to explain showing up at eight than at seven, right?" Ruby just nodded a few times. She could understand the reasoning at least… she just hoped it wouldn't be needed, that her family would still be sleeping. The two returned to walking, Ruby just trailing ahead a bit, eyes wandering around the same way they always would. She could probably pick Jaune up and just run them both there in a matter of minutes but, at the same time, she was still trying to kill time.

Her scroll rang.

Ruby recognized the whistling sound anywhere.

She fished in her pocket for a moment before pulling out her scroll, answering it. Saw her father on the other side, Yang leaning over his shoulder slightly. The two were in the living room, both giving tired smiles at her. "Hey dad! Hey sis!" Ruby smiled at the two. They looked tired, as if they'd been up all night worried about her… she tried to ignore the guilty knot her stomach was tying itself in. "Where have you _been_!? We've been worried sick!" Yang said, only her father's hand on her shoulder keeping her from tearing the scroll out of her hands.

Ruby frowned, letting her eyes look away, "Sorry… it was really late when we left the police station and-" "POLICE STATION!?" both Yang _and_ Tai jumped up at that one. Yang's eyes flashed red as Tai's face paled, both their minds on overdrive as they imagined what sweet, innocent Ruby would be doing at the police station of all things. Ruby felt her face turn red as she realized what it sounded like. She shook her head, waving one of her hands toward him. "No no! I wasn't in trouble! I… well, I guess I kind of was but -nevermind! I'm on my way home, we'll explain everything when we get there." she said, biting her lip as she realized a split second too late what she'd said.

Yang raised an eyebrow, "We? Who's 'we'? Bringing a boy home~" Yang giggled at her own joke… then her jaw dropped slightly as Ruby turned the camera, showing Jaune to the two of them. "He insisted on walking me home so nothing bad happened to me. Love you! Gottagobye!" Ruby explained, quickly ending the call. Jaune just looked over at her, raising an eyebrow as he saw her stuff her scroll back in her pocket. Ruby just looked into his eyes, seemingly waiting on his verdict.

"I don't remember insisting on walking you home." he said, a small smile on his face. Ruby pouted at him for a second before she looked away, walking ahead slightly. Jaune had to jog a bit to catch up, smiling all the while. "What? You don't seem to _want_ to walk with me…" Ruby turned to conceal her pout, crossing her arms. That is, until she yelped, feeling herself lifted into the air a bit. She turned her head, a smile suddenly on her face as she saw Jaune had hoisted her off the ground. "Hey! Put me down!" she said through her laughter as Jaune lightly shook her, her hand uselessly pounding against his shoulder.

He chuckled, "You don't seem like you _want_ me to…" Ruby pouted down at him for a second before she got a devilish smirk. She leaned down slightly, lightly blowing into Jaune's ear. "Please put me down, Jauney~" she figured if anger wouldn't work, maybe using her sexiest, most sultry voice would. Jaune just leaned back a bit, his face tinting pink. Then he smirked, dropping her. Ruby was about to move when Jaune wrapped her in a hug, Ruby shivering as she felt him breathing into _her _ear this time. "Are you sure you want that, Ruby?~" while Jaune lightly blushed, Ruby's face went _bright_ red.

"Umm… uhh…" Ruby didn't know what to say to that. She'd expected him to just blush and let her go… not beat her at her own game. Though, after a few seconds, he just laughed, letting her go. He pat her shoulder, "Nice try, I'll give you that." he started walking ahead, reaching what looked to be a small, well-trodden path in the middle of the woods. Jaune walked right past it, only to turn at Ruby's whistle. "It's this way." Jaune nodded a few times, dashing back toward her before the two made their way down the trail.

As they approached, Ruby could feel her heart pounding in her ears. Here she was, having spent an entire night away from home without telling _anyone_, and now she was coming back _and_ bringing a boy neither her sister or her father had ever seen before? If _this_ wasn't worthy of one of Taiyang's lectures, _nothing_ was. The two walked in a somewhat tense silence down the path, Ruby's worry increasing more and more as she approached home. When she finally saw her house in the distance she stopped.

"Something wrong?" Jaune took notice of course. He saw the nervous sweat on Ruby's brow, the way her hands were shaking a little, playing with the hem of her shirt, in general just finding ways to keep themselves moving. Ruby nodded, "You could say that…" even her _voice_ seemed uncertain and shaky. She forced herself to keep walking, and it was only by sheer willpower that she stopped near the edge of the woods. Jaune frowned at her… he understood the nerves of course. In plenty of his adventures… he found the hardest part was coming back. Coming back home where everything was normal… coming back home when you'd left without a goodbye.

He took Ruby's hand, lightly squeezing it, "Hey, it'll be okay. They're probably just worried." he gave her the most reassuring smile he could. He wasn't close to her sister. He only knew _of_ Taiyang. Though, something that seemed common through most times he went to was that they cared about Ruby. They worried about her when she was gone… that was something he felt he could bet on for this world too. Ruby squeezed his hand back, giving him a grateful smile before taking her hand from his, slowly walking toward the house.

"RUBYYYYYYY!"

Ruby suddenly wished time was stopped again.

She was instantly knocked on her back by Yang, the girl wrapping her arms around her in a protective embrace. Ruby slowly worked her way up, to the point she could at least _see_ the house through her sister's mane. Ruby let out a strangled cry as Yang wrapped her in a crushing hug, one that almost made her prefer her father's… almost. At least she could _breathe_ through his, however long they may have been. Yang pulled back almost a minute later, Ruby catching her breath as the girl stood. "You've got a _lot_ of explaining to do." Yang said, her eyes flashing red as Ruby -just for a second- feared for her life.

Yang took a few seconds before she slowly looked up, eyes fixing on Jaune. The time traveler took a step back, holding up a hand in a weak wave. Yang moved a bit forward, an arm encircling Ruby, defending the prized possession. "Who is this?" Ruby _instantly_ wanted Yang to shout and be mad -at Jaune, at her, she didn't care. _Anything_ was better than her using that measured, calm, _incredibly_ threatening voice of hers. The fact that she rarely used it made it _far_ scarier to listen to. Ruby pulled out of Yang's hug. She needed to diffuse the situation _fast_ before Jaune ended up either freezing time or Yang ended up sending him to the hospital.

"Yang, this is Jaune. He's a huntsman in training going to Beacon next year. Jaune, this is Yang… she's Yang." Ruby said, gesturing between the two. If Yang relaxed, it was so minuscule Ruby couldn't see it. She just gave a slight nod, holding out her hand. Jaune, actually deciding to play it smart this time, grabbed her knuckles instead of her palm, so that she couldn't crush his hand. Yang's eyes widened a bit as she realized this, narrowing them slightly at Jaune. It had been small, barely noticeable, and could easily have been a simple mistake.

Yang didn't think so.

She had sensed a deliberateness in his action. A sort of calculated precision. That was something she'd only seen a few times. In her uncle Qrow, in her father… even in Summer when she was still around. It was a move straight out of the huntsmen playbook… how did he know it if he was an incoming Beacon freshman? "_What are you hiding…_?" Yang let go a moment later, lightly running a hand over her knuckles. She turned her eyes, smiling as she saw her father walking out. Her father did _not_ look amused, but he didn't look pissed off either. He just looked… blank.

Suddenly, she was glad it hadn't been her that hadn't come home last night.

Ruby slowly walked toward her father, Taiyang wrapping her in a hug before she'd even gotten two steps. "Are you okay?" his eyes trailed over his little girl, seeing her new clothes, the backpack, crescent rose on her back… he saw no injuries, no markings on her neck to indicate something bad had happened. Ruby wrapped her arms back around her father, "I'm fine dad… well, thanks to Jaune anyway." she figured if she was going to do this, she may as well go all in. Tai looked up, as if just noticing the boy across from him. His eyes were blank, gazing at him. Jaune felt no fear… well, that was a lie. He felt _some_ fear, but at the same time, it wasn't like he'd done anything _bad_.

Taiyang unfurled from Ruby after a second, lilac eyes gazing into blue for a moment before he turned, pulling Ruby toward the house. "Everyone come inside, you two can explain everything." there was no mistaking the threatening undertone of his voice. Jaune recognized it, Yang recognized it, even _Ruby_ recognized it. Jaune just followed, Yang walking behind him, gripping her hands into fists behind her back. Ruby walked with her father, nerves crawling into her throat. She'd never been in _big_ trouble before… maybe for taking a cookie or two but, never something like this. She'd always been the angel to Yang's devil… now the roles were reversed, and she did _not_ like it.

The four walked inside, Taiyang sitting in a chair nearby, gesturing at the couch across from him. Ruby sat down first, of course, Yang taking the seat next to her. Jaune walked over, sitting on the other side of Yang. He'd been through similar experiences before. Best not tempt his luck by sitting next to Ruby. "So… Ruby, I'd like you to tell me what happened." his eyes were solely focused on his daughter, nodding a few times as his eyes flicked to Yang. Yang stood, grabbing Jaune's wrist before he could react. "You're coming with me." she said, pulling Jaune off the couch.

Jaune just nodded, not resisting as Yang dragged him into the kitchen, shutting the door behind her to separate the two separate interrogations. She grabbed a chair, kicking one toward him before spinning hers around, laying her arms across the back and leaning ahead in it. Jaune just sat down normally, leaning forward slightly. "First things first, the name's Yang Xiao Long. Who are you?" her voice told him _she_ was the one asking the questions, and that she'd already formed a pretty biased opinion of him.

He held out his hand, smiling the way he always did, "I uh… think we already did introductions. I'm Jaune." he vaguely recalled that Yang had asked him when she first met him in the front yard. Yang didn't look amused, shaking his hand once again. This time Jaune didn't move back to grip her knuckles, simply wincing a bit as Yang gripped tighter. "You're going to answer my questions. I don't like the answer, this," she squeezed his hand, "Gets worse. Do we understand each other?" Jaune just nodded. He'd had a bad feeling that's what would happen.

"What happened last night?" Taiyang asked, looking over at his more nervous daughter. Ruby, at that moment, was wishing for Jaune and Yang to walk back in. She honestly didn't care if Yang was _throwing_ Jaune through the door or vice versa, just so that she didn't have to deal with her father alone. She took a breath, "_It's okay Ruby… just tell the truth, and everything will be fine. Well, actually, maybe not the WHOLE truth, maybe leave out the part about Jaune being a time traveler… but the rest of the truth._" she thought, leaning forward slightly, hands clutching at her knees.

"I was in a dust shop looking for bullets for my baby," she lightly pat crescent rose, "when this weird guy in a tux and red glasses tapped on my shoulder. He was all like 'I'm robbing you!' so I was all like 'WAAAH! TAAAH! KYATANG!'... I uh… don't ask what a 'kyatang' is -anyway! I threw him out of the window when the rest of them ran at me. Then the main boss guy… uhh, Roman something I think?" her father's eyes widened at that. Just slightly, but it was there. Ruby took a breath, "He was about to shoot me with his cane when this random guy started wailing on him… I mean he, took him down a second later but, he kept me from getting shot. Then he dashed off to keep him from getting away and, I joined him. He threw a dust crystal at us and the guy pushed me away to keep it from blowing up." Ruby took a few breaths, having said most of that in the span of two seconds.

Her father just nodded, a little smile on his face, "Okay… and the police came and escorted you to the station afterward as witnesses?" Ruby shook her head… that was _kind_ of right but, at the same time, not exactly. Taiyang raised an eyebrow as he suddenly heard something fall from the kitchen. He turned back to Ruby, the girl just as distracted as her father. Her father coughed, Ruby turning her attention back to him, "Anyway, they came and brought us to the police station where professor Ozpin showed up and told me that Jaune Arc -that's his name by the way- was a student going to Beacon, and that we both had the qualities of great huntsmen. And then he asked Jaune to leave and -AAAAAH! He asked me to go to Beacon next semester!" Ruby felt the excitement from before coming back to her.

Taiyang only smiled… he knew Ozpin, and this seemed _exactly_ like the kind of thing he would do. Letting his daughter in two years early… he had to admit, he was rather impressed. Though, that didn't answer all his questions. "Why didn't you come home?" _that_ was the big question. If Ruby hadn't been in trouble, if everything was okay… why had she stayed in Vale at all? Ruby looked away, tapping her index fingers together, "I uh… it was really late when we… left… I didn't want to walk home at night and, I figured you and Yang were already asleep so- EEH!" Ruby felt herself hoisted into Taiyang's arms, wrapped in a hug.

"Ruby, I don't care if it's three in the morning, if you need me, I _will_ be there. Just… if this happens again, I want you to call me, okay?" he asked, smiling down at her. Ruby smiled right back up at him, wrapping her arms around her father's torso. The two stayed like that for a bit before Taiyang pulled back, planting a small kiss on his daughter's forehead before letting go, letting her migrate back onto the couch.

Yang turned, raising an eyebrow as she heard her sister yelp through the door. She turned back to Jaune, glaring slightly at the box that had fallen a moment ago. She'd _told_ Ruby it would fall if she didn't move it. "Uh, anyway, after Ruby got out of the room with Ozpin she said she didn't have a way to get home. I didn't want anything to happen to her so, I asked her to come to my family's place." now was the moment of truth. If Yang interpreted that the wrong way… well, he was probably going to have to rewind time to keep himself from being brutally murdered. Though, Yang just let go of his hand, giving him a faint smile. "You're lucky you seem innocent, otherwise I'd punch you in the face right now."

"Umm… thanks?" Jaune wasn't really sure what to make of that. Was she complimenting him? Insulting him? Threatening him? It seemed like she could be doing any of those things. Yang just shook her head, "What I _mean_ is that it seems like you didn't have any intention of sleeping with my sister. Which is good, very good. Now, can I ask where she got the new threads?" she vaguely gestured to her own shirt for that one, as if thinking Jaune didn't know what 'threads' meant. Jaune leaned back in his chair, somewhat more relaxed. "They're my sister's. She outgrew them a few years ago so, I figured they wouldn't be missed." he was (mostly) telling the truth about that one. His sister had planned on keeping them for his younger siblings… of course, she still probably wouldn't miss them.

Yang slowly nodded. "You have a sister?" "Seven, actually." he said, waiting for the inevitable joking or shock that would come upon hearing that. Yang's eyes widening as she'd heard that. _Seven_ sisters… "_Wow_ your parents need a new hobby." aaaaand there it was. Jaune just nodded a few times, lightly rubbing the back of his head. Yang leaned back, finally starting to relax. She had to admit, she didn't _hate_ this guy -which was more than she'd thought she'd say when she first saw him. He didn't seem to want to sleep with her sister (he'd be _dead_ if he did) and he seemed like an honest, decent person.

She stood, taking his wrist and bursting into the living room. Taiyang looked at her, awaiting his daughter's verdict. If there was _anyone_ he trusted at judging characters besides himself? It was Yang. She just smiled, "No problems on my end -except Ruby's box fell over, sorry sis- how about in here?" Ruby's eyes widened as she instantly disappeared in a flash of rose petals, going to check on the small box. Taiyang turned to Jaune, his eyes still somewhat mistrusting. Though, now there was no menace. Now he was more relaxed.

He stood, holding out a hand to Jaune, "If Yang and Ruby don't see anything bad about you, I guess I've got no reason to either. I'm Taiyang Xiao Long." Jaune shook his hand. Taiyang didn't try and break his hand as Yang had, but simply shook a _bit_ firmer than he needed to. Jaune let his hand fall to his side after a few seconds, "I'm Jaune Arc." Tai's eyes flashed at that. Arc… he hadn't heard _that_ name in awhile. Jaune just stood there, waiting as Taiyang looked over him, his eyes lingering a bit longer on his hair than he'd expected. "June and John had a son? Coulda sworn they just had a bunch of girls…"

"Wait, you know my parents?" Jaune had… _not_ expected this. He could perhaps be forgiven since he didn't know Taiyang had ever known his parents. After all, he'd never _actually_ met Taiyang. Heard plenty of him, visited his grave a few times, but at the same time… there wasn't much else. Taiyang chuckled, "_Knew_ them? Other than my team they were the biggest team of trouble makers this side of Atlas!" Jaune felt his eyes widen slightly… _his_ parents were trouble makers? The same parents that had been so worried about him and his siblings becoming huntsmen? _They_ were troublemakers?

Tai chuckled, "Guess they didn't want their kids hearing about that… next time they try and blame you for something, ask them about the locker incident." Jaune slowly nodded… he honestly wasn't sure he wanted to know. Still, he filed it away in his memory. Could come in handy, who knew? Tai and Yang both sat down, Jaune taking the hint and sitting down shortly afterward. All three looked toward the door as Ruby walked in, holding the small box in her hands. She glared at Yang, "Hey, don't look at me. _You're_ the one that decided to put it on the edge of the fridge." the sister said, holding up her hands.

"Ruby, why don't you tell Yang the good news?" Yang raised an eyebrow at her father. What _good news_ was there that Jaune hadn't told her about? She didn't get the impression he was _lying_ about anything either… had he just neglected to tell her? Thought it wasn't that important? Ruby turned to Yang with what was likely the _biggest_ smile Yang had ever seen. Yang smiled right back, "What? What's this _amazing_ news?" she asked. Ruby nearly squealed out her response:

"I'M GOING TO BEACON WITH YOU AND JAUNE!"


	4. Deju vu or not?

Foresight was a wonderful thing.

Jaune Arc knew that better than anyone. In his current position, he was glad that he'd had the foresight of buying motion sickness pills before coming on the flight up to Beacon. Though, he wished he'd had a _bit_ more foresight to see that those pills weren't _quite_ as strong as he remembered. He was stable, sure, and he was in no danger of spilling his breakfast anywhere… though, that didn't mean he was _comfortable_.

He was currently leaning against the cool glass of the airship, eyes squeezed shut, just trying to keep himself from fainting. Time travel could do many things… helping him with motion sickness was unfortunately not one of them. "_Wish I knew where Ruby and Yang were…_" he thought, tempted for a moment to look around behind him. The problem with the three of them arriving separately was that he didn't _really_ know which ship they were in. They could've been in his, the ship next to his, the _other_ ship next to his -he didn't know. Though, given Yang's reaction to him the first time, he wasn't exactly sure that was a _bad_ thing.

"Enjoying the view?" Jaune opened his eyes, swiftly turning to the voice he guessed was on his right… he guessed wrong, and had to turn around a second later. He saw a young woman gazing up at him, and the Arc had to bite his tongue to prevent calling her by name or wrapping his arms around her in a hug. The orange hair, the energetic blue eyes -he'd know her anywhere. Nora Valkyrie smiled at him, raising an eyebrow when he didn't answer. "What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?"

"No."

"Forgot something on the ground?"

"No."

"Homesick?"

"No."

"Thinking about how easy it would be to break the window and freefall?"

"What!? No… okay maybe but, not in _that_ way, no!"

"Afraid of heights? Motion sick? _Reeeally_ nervous about going to Beacon?"

"No- wait yes, yes that second one."

Nora nodded a few times, "Oh, I see. Hey, do you like pancakes?" Jaune just nodded. He'd been around Nora enough times to have _vaguely_ figured out how her mind worked. Of course, he didn't think he'd _ever_ figure out everything about it. That was meant for Nora and Nora alone… well, _maybe_ Ren but, even that was a stretch. Nora just nodded a few times, leaning back against the glass next to him. She shut her eyes, slowly shaking her head back and forth, as if to some unheard melody.

About six seconds later she jumped over, wrapping her arms around Jaune's waist. "Do you wanna be friends? You look fun." Jaune just sighed, slowly nodding before rubbing his hand on Nora's head. He knew her reaction, of course, given he'd been doing it for decades. He knew _just_ the right way to rub a hand over Nora's head to get a reaction. Sure enough, the second he started Nora leaned back, rubbing her cheek against his belly almost like a cat. Jaune chuckled, "I'm Jaune, by the way." it was always weird introducing himself to people he'd known for so many years… never quite got used to it.

"I'm NORA!" she shouted, jumping to where her knees were about at head level. Jaune caught her on reflex, stumbling forward a bit at her weight. She wrapped her arms around his neck, smiling at him. "You're fast, friend." Jaune just nodded, knowing better than to question Nora's 'Noraisms' as he called them. He looked around for a moment, raising an eyebrow as he didn't see the orange haired girl's usual companion anywhere nearby. "_Weird… normally if Nora's here Ren's never too far behind._" he thought.

She blinked up at him a few times before she smiled, jumping off him and taking his hand, "Come on! Let's go stand by the doors so we can get off sooner!" Jaune had _no_ complaints with that one. If Nora had offered to jump from the edge of the airship to Beacon itself he'd have accepted in a _heartbeat_. He stopped near the edge, looking at the gray sheets of metal that were the doors. He felt a pressure at his side, looking down to see Nora wrapping her arms around him, lifting him slightly off the ground. "What's your name?" she asked.

"I'm Jaune Arc." he didn't try and hold out his hand to shake hers for a few reasons. One, the most obvious, was that he was currently being held almost a foot off the ground by a girl almost a foot shorter than him. The second being he'd known Nora Valkyrie across multiple timelines, multiple worlds, and _every time_ she would always misinterpret what the handshake was _actually_ supposed to mean.

Three? He didn't want his hand broken a day before initiation.

"Well, you _know_ I'm Nora, but I'm also a Valkyrie." she said, wrapping her arms around Jaune tighter. Jaune sighed, giving a faint smile at the back of her head as he was lifted above her head. She smiled right back at him, "Ever wonder what it's like to fly on your own." Jaune's face paled as she said that… he knew where that was going. Just as the doors opened Nora dashed out, skidded to a halt in front of the airship.

"Nora, no!"

"Nora YES!"

Jaune felt his eyes widen as Nora leaped into the air, waiting until she was maybe halfway in the air before pushing off Jaune, sending him further into the air. Jaune laid a hand over his mouth as he turned around, eyes wide as he saw the ground forty feet beneath him. "I GOT YOU!" Jaune heard a familiar voice say. He looked over, seeing a blur of red as he was suddenly lifted up, two slender arms beneath him. He looked down, smiling at Ruby, silver eyes meeting blue… until both of them looked down. "Uh-oh…" Ruby muttered, the two of them plummeting.

Jaune, thinking quickly, grabbed Ruby and pulled her in front of him. He spun around, gathering his aura beneath him as he braced for impact. "HANG ON!" Jaune looked down, raising an eyebrow as he saw Nora suddenly jump up, her arms wrapping beneath his knees and his back. He stopped focusing his aura, him, Ruby and Nora shuddering as Nora landed on the ground, her legs slamming knee deep into the concrete.

She let go, giving a thumbs up to the two still clinging to each other for dear life. Jaune slowly stood, Ruby's arms still around Jaune's, her teeth still chattering and rattling in her skull from the impact. He looked at Nora, "Nora… _never_, do that again… _please_…" Nora frowned, and for a moment she actually _did_ look and _feel_ genuinely guilty. Though, that quickly shifted back to a smile as she saw her basically ninja companion a few feet away. "Gotta go new friend! My old friend needs me!" she dashed past Jaune and Ruby, barreling into the crowd for Ren.

Ruby looked over her for a few seconds before she turned, looking up at Jaune, "Uh… friend of yours?" she asked. Jaune just nodded… it _was_ true… and it wasn't… time travel was complicated, he'd never stop saying it. Ruby nodded a few times, stepping off him after a second before the two proceeded to walk toward the center. Ruby looked around, eyes widening as she gasped, "Oh my gosh look at all the weapons! She's got a spear, he's got a shield, that one has a collapsible staff, aaah!" Ruby was zipping about all over the place, her eyes wide and a smile constantly on her face.

A hand shot out from behind Jaune, pulling Ruby back toward him before Ruby could go off and oogle more weapons. "Ruby, calm down a little! They're just weapons." Yang said. Jaune could tell the second Yang said that that it would be a mistake. Ruby's eyes widened, a small glare forming in her eyes, the silver twinkling at her. "_Just_, weapons!? They're an extension of ourselves!" she sighed, "They're _so_ cool…" she trailed off, hands clasped in front of her.

Yang raised an eyebrow, "Why are you so interested in _their_ weapons? Aren't you happy with your own?" Jaune had to agree with Yang on that one. Ruby seemed borderline _obsessed_ with crescent rose… why _would_ she be gazing at other weapons? Ruby spun her scythe around, slamming the bottom into the ground and wrapping her arms around it. "Of _course_ I'm happy with crescent rose! It's just so cool to see other people's weapons. It's like meeting new people… but better…" she looked at the ground, pulling her weapon a bit closer. Jaune frowned, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, meeting new people isn't _that_ bad. I mean, you met me, right?" Ruby gave a little smile at him, eyes flicking to her sister who was -expectedly- glaring _daggers_ at the back of Jaune's head. Ruby nodded a few times, "Yeah but… that's different…" she realized how lame her excuse was literally the _second_ she'd said it. She could figure out what her sister would say next. Of course, Yang was never one to turn down a jab at her sister's expense.

"How's it different with him? Does my little sister- OW!" Yang staggered back, holding her forehead. Ruby lightly rubbed at her own, glaring at her sister.

"_Okay… didn't expect THAT one…_" if Jaune was asked what he expected to see today, he could safely say that Ruby headbutting her older sister was definitely _not_ on that list. The two glared at one another before Jaune interrupted, "Hey, at least cut her a _little_ break. Nothing wrong with being excited about a new friend." he said, patting Ruby's shoulder as the girl slowly looked up at him. Yang's eyes flicked between them for a second before she smiled, laying a hand on Jaune's shoulder. Jaune looked down, eyes wide as he saw Yang's suddenly turn red. "Hurt her, I _end_ you." suddenly her eyes were lilac and she was dashing off with some friends of hers, smiling and laughing like nothing happened.

Jaune felt something against his side, and looking down to see Ruby leaning toward him, crescent rose back on her back. She sighed, "Sorry about that… Yang's kinda… maybe just a little…" she muttered, tapping her chin, trying to think of a way to say it that really captured what her sister _was_. Jaune offered a few suggestions of his own.

"Overprotective? Coddling? Aggressive?"

"Nuts."

Jaune raised an eyebrow… that was _far_ from what he'd expected her to say. "Nuts… your sister is nuts, noted." Jaune said, taking a mental note to keep an eye on Yang. If there was _anyone_ that would be a threat to him, it was probably the person he knew the least about… well, barring Taiyang but, he wasn't _at_ Beacon now was he? Ruby turned, laying her head against Jaune's shoulder, "And… thanks." Jaune just wrapped an arm around her, giving her a smile. Ruby smiled right back, burying her blushing face into his arm as the two walked forward. Jaune looked up, eyes flicking around to see… no one. That is until he turned around and saw an all too familiar girl behind him.

"Do you two _mind_? You're in the middle of the walkway." Ruby looked up, raising an eyebrow as she saw the white-haired girl behind them, carrying what looked to be… suitcases? Should she have brought suitcases? Did _everyone_ bring suitcases but she choose not to send them ahead of time and just carried them herself? Jaune turned around, letting the arm around Ruby fall to his side. The girl glared at the two of them, eyes flicking over Ruby with a vague questioning gaze. "Aren't you a little _young_ to be in Beacon?" Jaune couldn't help but glare at her. True, it was a question he himself would've asked if he hadn't been there when Ruby was accepted, but at the same time, she couldn't have said it _more_ condescending? Didn't seem _sarcastic_ enough yet.

"Umm… kind of? I-I mean I'm only… only two years younger… it's not like I'm coming here to host tea parties or anything…" Ruby trailed off, her face gradually getting more and more red. Weiss glared at her even harder, sitting down one suitcase and opening the other. She held up a vial of what Jaune recognized as fire dust. "Do you even know what this _is_? _Don't_ help her blond boy!" she said, no doubt seeing Jaune about to answer for her. Ruby just looked over at it… she knew the answer, of course. She knew it was dust. Of course, it didn't help that her tongue decided now would be a good time to take a break, not wanting to articulate the words she wanted to say.

"This is dust! Fire dust mores specifically! You probably use it in whatever weapon you must have tucked away somewhere! It's energy! Life! Power! Are you even _listen_-" "GET DOWN!" Jaune yelled, realizing what was about to happen. After all, what did the girl _think_ was going to happen when she sent a dust cloud at someone? He dashed toward the heiress, opening his shield just as Ruby sneezed. He didn't move, his shield and aura absorbing most of the blast. Jaune coughed as he waved away some of the smoke, some of his hair tinted black with the soot. He saw Ruby wiping at her nose, spitting a bit of fire from her mouth a few more times. Jaune slowly lowered his shield, "Okay… I think that's-" "ACHOO!"

**BOOM!**

Jaune fell back, body covered in soot. Weiss fell back, shielded by Jaune, him laying over top of her. Ruby, meanwhile just stood there, covering her mouth and nose with her hands. Jaune stood, Weiss standing a few moments later and glaring at the girl. "YOU COMPLETE-" "FOR THE LOVE OF LIGHT AND DARKNESS! **STOP SHAKING THE DUST!**" Jaune said, grabbing Weiss's hand and taking the dust from her before she could send another wave of dust at Ruby. He turned, seeing Ruby sneeze again, a bit of fire coming out. He let out a sigh of relief, only to hear Weiss clearing her throat. He turned, seeing her holding out her open palm, her other hand on her hip.

Jaune gave it back to her, "Sorry, didn't feel like being blown up a third time." he said, eyes flicking back toward Ruby. Said Ruby had apparently thought the best response to such actions was to look down and lightly tap her index fingers together, her face about as red as the dust she'd been blowing up via sneezing. Weiss decided to heed Jaune's advice, putting the dust back in the suitcase before marching past him to Ruby. "Do you have ANY idea how close you were to killing us all!?" she shouted.

"I'm really, _really_ sorry!" Ruby said, and to her credit, it _did_ sound like she was remorseful. Weiss walked over to her, glaring down at her as Jaune walked the other direction, standing behind Ruby. "This isn't just an ordinary _combat school_ you know! The danger here is _real_! You can't just-" "Hey, she _said_ she was sorry princess." Jaune said, glaring at her.

"Heiress, actually." Jaune heard another voice say. He turned, eyes widening a bit as he saw the amber-eyed, black haired girl walking toward them. Blake Belladonna closed her book, eyes flicking between the three. "Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world." she said. Weiss got a smirk on her face, hand on her hip as she looked to the girl. It was at that point that Jaune began to wonder what he'd seen in her his first time around… well, barring her good looks anyway. "Finally! Some recognition." she said.

"The _same_ company known for its controversial labor forces and questionable business partners." she said, returning Weiss's smirk. Weiss glared at her for a few seconds before letting out a frustrated huff, stomping away toward the airship. Ruby watched her walk away, letting out a small sigh, about to turn and greet the other girl… oooonly to find that she'd already left too. She sighed, "Welcome to Beacon…" she muttered. Jaune frowned, gently taking her hand. Ruby turned, giving him a faint smile as the two started walking toward the courtyard.

"Thanks." Ruby said after a few minutes. Jaune raised an eyebrow… what was she _thanking_ him for? Ruby seemed to sense his confusion, "For what you did -standing up for me, I mean. No one's ever- well, no one who isn't _related_ to me has ever done that -well… you know…" Ruby trailed off, not really sure what she was saying anymore. Unfortunately for her -despite having gone through _countless_ timelines and branching paths in history- Jaune Arc was no less dense than the first time. "Uh… thanks. I… don't really know _what_ I'm… thanking you for but, thanks anyway." Ruby frowned, rubbing her chin as she tried to think of a way to explain it.

"I… okay, I think I've got it. Thanks for standing up for me. No one other than Yang or my dad has ever done that before… and my other relatives. Better?" she said. Jaune nodded a few times. He could understand _that_ one perfectly… mostly since Ruby hadn't been speaking so fast he was struggling to process the first word she said when she was already on the _tenth_. Ruby smiled at him, looking around. "Uh… Ruby?" said girl turned, silver eyes meeting blue. Jaune just nodded his head down. Ruby let her eyes trail down, face turning red again as she saw her hand still wrapped around his armored one.

She quickly withdrew, "Sorry… forgot it was there." Jaune couldn't help but laugh at that, covering his mouth with his hand. Ruby pouted as she saw him laughing, pulling her hood up over her head. "It's not _that_ funny…" despite the Arc's contagious laughter, Ruby refused to join in, content to keep pouting at him from the confines of her hood as he laughed his head off. It was a good minute later when he finally stopped, taking a few breaths to calm himself. "It is… oh, more than you know." Jaune muttered, recalling when he was _going_ to use that exact same excuse… though, apparently unlike Ruby, he'd thought through just how stupid and unbelievable of an excuse it was.

Ruby turned, "If this is a time travel thing, it isn't-" Jaune seemingly appeared in front of her. Ruby's eyes widened as she felt the wind, Jaune suddenly disappearing, her hood now pulled back down by her shoulders. She turned, seeing Jaune standing on top of a fountain almost ten feet away. "Hey! That's _my_ thing!" she shouted, glaring as she activated her semblance, speeding toward him… only for him to seemingly teleport behind her. Ruby turned, glaring at him as he walked forward, his scroll in his hand.

"Yeah? Well, time travel was _my_ thing…"

"Oh… right…" Ruby looked to the ground, instantly feeling guilt welling back up in her chest. Jaune set his scroll back, walking over and wrapping an arm around Ruby's shoulder. She looked up at him, her mind eased a bit at Jaune's smile. "Ruby, it's okay. I'm not mad… kind of relieved, honestly." he said, muttering the last phrase. Of course, Ruby heard it. Though, in the interest of not making herself look like even more of an idiot and/or inconsiderate friend, she decided against mentioning it.

Instead, she decided to question something else. "I thought you said I'd _know_ if you stopped time or went back? How come it didn't stop for me?" she felt kind of cheated if she was honest with herself. He'd said she'd be able to feel it and the _second_ he wants to mess with her that no longer applies? How fair was that!? Though, Jaune only sighed, "Ruby… if you aren't _actually_ connected to a time machine, you aren't going anywhere. You were holding onto me the first time, remember?" Ruby vaguely recalled that he was right. The two of them walked the rest of the way in silence, Jaune remembering to move his arm off her shoulders this time.

Given Jaune had been to Beacon more times than he could remember, it wasn't that hard for him to find the main hall where Ozpin would give his speech. The second the two walked through the door, he saw Yang's head of blonde hair in the sea of people. He pointed her out to Ruby, "There's Yang if you-" "SNEAK ATTAAAAACK!" Jaune casually stepped to the right, holding out his arm. Nora slammed into it, knocking the wind out of her. It was a true testament to her physical strength that she managed to hold onto Jaune's arm regardless, hanging off him. When she recovered, she pouted at him.

"Aww… how'd you move so fast?"

"Nora, sneak attacks don't work if you yell them out loud."

"He's right you know." Jaune said, smiling as he saw none other than Lie Ren walk up behind him and Ruby. Nora quickly fell off Jaune, jumping up and walking over to Ren. Ren gave a small bow, Jaune returning one in a split second. Ruby took a bit before she did the same, bending over a bit too far and bumping her head into Ren's. She staggered back a bit as the three got introductions out of the way, Nora turning to Ruby. "Don't forget me! I'm NORAAA!" she dashed ahead, Jaune reaching out to try and grab Ruby from Nora's path.

Unfortunately for Ruby, Nora was faster.

"Bleh!" Ruby said as she was placed in a crushing hug by Nora, the slightly taller girl hoisting her in the air by a few inches. She turned her head, mouthing 'help me' to the two boys nearby. Jaune -who'd known Nora _countless_ times over the centuries- and Ren -who'd known her much of his life- both shook their heads, knowing better than to interrupt one of Nora's hugs. Unless, of course, they _too_ wanted the life squeezed out of them. Jaune at the very least had the decency to mouth an apology to her, Ren giving a more sympathetic look than usual.

When Nora _finally_ let go (on account of Ozpin starting his speech) Ruby felt like her insides had been compressed into a tight paste, ready to be rolled out of her. "_Now I know how tubes of toothpaste feel…_" Ruby thought, the only reason she was still standing being Jaune and Ren right next to her. The small group of four looked up, watching as Ozpin and Glynda slowly walked out on stage. Jaune sort of tuned it out, more focused on keeping Ruby upright and keeping his eyes on Nora. If memory served (which it often did) Nora was _very_ good at making trouble when people were distracted.

When Ozpin finished his speech and Glynda had given her instructions, Ruby seemed to have recovered enough to stand on her own, eyes turning to Nora. Said girl walked forward, Ruby immediately dashing behind Jaune. Nora frowned at her, "Are you okay soft friend? I promise I won't be so rough next time!" she held both hands over the heart-shaped piece cut from her top, clearly not _actually_ understanding what the gesture meant. Ruby slowly walked around, nodding a few times before smiling at Nora. Nora smiled back. The two stared… and stared… and stared…

"What are you doing?" Jaune whispered.

"I don't know! Help me!" Ruby whispered back, _highly_ panicked.

"I win!" Nora said the second Ruby looked away, grabbing Ren's wrist and pulling him back toward her. Ren, being the sensible one of the group, had been walking over to try and head toward their sleeping area… of course, it didn't help that Nora could seemingly sense where he was at _all times_. Ruby and Jaune looked at one another, then back at Ren and Nora. "Umm… what?" the two asked, perfectly in sync.

Ren sighed, "Staring contest." Nora nodded a few times, grabbing his arm and leaning against his shoulder. Ruby raised an eyebrow, looking between the two before looking up at Jaune. Jaune just shrugged… he knew _why_ it was happening of course, but he _wouldn't_ know at this point, given he'd only just met Nora and Ren. Ruby looked back at Ren and Nora, watching Nora slowly walk forward. Nora stretched out a hand, holding up her fist in front of her face. Ruby went cross-eyed as Nora extended her finger.

"Boop!"

Ruby stepped back, blinking a few times before her eyes at last focused again on Nora. "Boop?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Nora responded by booping her again, shutting her eyes and tilting her head as she did so. Jaune just smiled at the two, Ren doing the same. The two looked up, blue eyes meeting magenta ones as the two shared a look. Neither really understood what it meant… at least, not right then.

"Hey! Ruby!" said girl turned, glaring as she saw her sister walking toward them. Nora and Ren turned, each giving a different type of wave as the saw the blonde brawler approach: Ren a small one, Nora waving both hands in the air like she was flapping her arms to fly (given what she'd seen so far, Ruby wouldn't have been shocked to see her start floating). The second she got close she turned around, looking off to the side. Yang smiled at her sister, "So, how's your first day been?" she asked.

"What, after you _ditched_ me and I exploded in front of the school!?" Nora's eyes suddenly widened, slowly gripping her hands together. It was only by the strength of Ren's arm on his companion's shoulder that Nora didn't suddenly dash toward her. Yang, meanwhile, didn't share the same obvious view as Nora of what 'exploded' meant. "Yikes. Meltdown already?" she asked. Ruby shook her head, glaring at her sister. Jaune, meanwhile, looked over and glared as he saw Weiss walking over to them. Call it a premonition, but he had a _bad_ feeling about this.

"No! I _literally_ blew up! Twice! There was fire and I -I think some ice? Then there was this mean girl that kept yelling at me and I felt _really_ bad and Jaune tried to help and-" "YOU!" Weiss suddenly yelled, seemingly appearing behind Ruby. Ruby jumped into the air, Jaune stepping forward and catching her bridal style, staggering back a bit. He could've _sworn_ she was lighter last time… then he remembered she was carrying crescent rose. "OH NO IT'S HAPPENING AGAIN!" Ruby yelled, burying her head into Jaune's shoulder. Meanwhile, Weiss continued to berate her, glaring and pointing at the now higher girl.

"You're lucky blond-boy was here or you'd have blown us all off the side of the cliff!"

"Oh my god, you really exploded." Yang muttered, looking up at Ruby. Jaune turned, glaring down at Weiss for a moment. He could've said a _lot_ of things to screw with her. Told her her darkest fears, told her things he should never be able to know. Being a time traveler meant he'd _really_ be able to freak her out… though, in the end, he settled on something that _wouldn't_ reveal his secret to more people. "Look, I think we all just… got off on the wrong foot. Why don't we all start over and-" "Okay! I'm-"

"NORA!"

Nora froze, two seconds from leaping into the air. She turned, seeing Ren's hands on her shoulders. She pouted, "Aww… okay, fine." Jaune slowly looked up, seeing Ren's panicked expression… he was suddenly thankful that the ninja was still nearby. He turned back to Weiss, only to feel Yang lightly tapping on his shoulder. "You plan on putting her down any time soon?" she asked, gesturing to her sister. Ruby was still in his arms, her arms wrapped around his neck and her face buried just beneath. Jaune frowned at her, "Do you want me to put your down, Ruby?" Ruby just shook her head, her face burning ever more red.

"Regardless… I suppose introductions are in order, aren't they?" Weiss said… granted, she _really_ looked like she didn't want to. That was the thing about being raised polite: even if she hated it, she kind of felt obligated to do it. Jaune just nodded a few times, "Right. Well, I'm Jaune Arc. This is Ruby Rose." he said. He figured Ruby wasn't exactly in the… _best_ state to make the introduction for herself. If she minded, she didn't say anything to complain. Yang walked forward, holding out her hand to Weiss. Weiss hesitantly shook her hand, eyes wide as Yang shook most of her _arm_ up and down with her strength. "Sup, I'm Yang! Ruby's older sister!" she said, smile bright and wide.

Weiss nodded a few times, shaking out her hand a bit. While Jaune was oblivious, _Blake_ had certainly noticed the small, vindictive smirk on Yang's face. A small bit of revenge for her sister no doubt, disguised as over-enthusiastic politeness. Blake just pulled out her book, "I'm Blake." she said before walking away, heading off toward the ballroom. Ren introduced himself with a handshake before looking around, heading off toward… wherever Nora had gone.

"_Then there were four…_" Jaune thought, looking between Yang and Weiss. Weiss looked a bit annoyed, Yang happy with a rather clear… disdain, Jaune guessed was the emotion. Ruby, of course, was still embarrassed, seemingly trying to disappear into his shoulder. Jaune just gestured with a hand around them, and the fact they were _literally_ the only people left in the hall. "Uh, we should probably head out, right?" Yang nodded a few times, Ruby not offering a response as Weiss just shrugged.

The three that were actually walking turned to head off, Yang turning to look at her sister. "Ruby… Ruuuby? Are you asleep?" she asked, lightly tapping her sister's back. Jaune looked down at Yang, about to refute that… then he realized Ruby _had_ been awfully quiet for the past few minutes. In all the time he'd known her (which was only a few days so, maybe take that with a grain of salt) she'd not been _quiet_ for this long. He leaned back a bit, taking his hand up and lightly pushing Ruby's hair back. "Huh… she... _actually_ is… asleep…" Jaune muttered. He couldn't help his confusion. _How_ was that comfortable!? She was laying down against his armored chest plate, with her head in the _only_ place he _didn't_ have armor. How had she fallen asleep so easily?

Yang sighed, a faint, nostalgic smile on her face as she pushed Ruby's hair back a bit, "Yeah… always did find weird places to sleep…" even as she walked, Yang's mind was miles away. Back home in Patch. Back with her father. Back with a younger Ruby. Back with their uncle Qrow even. Remembered Ruby finding the strangest places to sleep: Under the couch, over her dresser, over the cupboards in the kitchen -even _inside_ them one time. Yang walked closer to Jaune, her touch feather soft as she gently plucked strands of Ruby's hair, pulling them back over her ears.

Jaune looked up, noticing that Weiss had _long_ since left the two blondes and sleeping Ruby. He smiled down at Ruby, noticing the peaceful smile on her face as she readjusted herself, leaning against his chest this time. "Ruby. Come on Ruby, it's time to get up~" he whispered, leaning toward her ear. Her face twisted in discomfort for a moment before she opened her eyes, silver orbs gazing into blue. "Hmm… where am I?" she asked, slowly looking around. Yang walked over, laying a hand on her sister's cheek.

"Welcome to heaven Ruby~" Jaune raised an eyebrow… then again, even _he _could catch on when Yang was trying to pull a prank on someone. He just nodded, smiling down at her. Ruby just slowly turned her head, eyes flicking over her sister before she smiled, "How'd you get here then?" Yang froze, her face paling a bit as Ruby giggled, Jaune laughing. After a few seconds, Ruby tapped Jaune's shoulder, motioning to be let down. He complied… though, Ruby kept her arms around his neck for a second, giggling at her sister.

"Huh… good one! High five sis!" Yang said. Ruby accepted, letting go of Jaune for a second before taking his hand in her left, her sister's in her right. She smiled at the two before she started walking, Jaune and Yang lagging behind just a little. The two shared a gaze, a smile, and for just a moment Yang forgot exactly why she'd been so hard on him when she first met him… well, until her eyes trailed down and she saw Ruby's hand in his. She turned back ahead, smiling at the blond still in the corner of her eyes. "_Let's not drive him off… Ruby'd never forgive me if I scared off her first friend at Beacon._" she thought, letting her sister guide her and Jaune.

It took the three a few minutes to catch up with everyone else, who'd gathered in the ballroom at Glynda's orders. Ruby let go of their hands, stopping near the entrance. She motioned either of the two to go in first. Both were _far_ better at social situations than her after all (and given the fact _Jaune Arc_ was one of them, _that_ was saying something). Yang, of course, took the lead, slamming the doors open and walking in with her usual swagger. Jaune walked in next, Ruby following behind him a few seconds later. Jaune looked around for a moment, raising an eyebrow as he saw the pile of luggage still.

"_Weird… everyone's been here for a while, why have so few people gotten theirs?_" he thought, walking over and grabbing his Arc tote bag (which was really just a black tote bag with the Arc family crest sewed on in yellow thread). Ruby went to grab hers too, hers having her emblem as well. Jaune looked around for a second, frowning as he noticed the large groups had already formed. He always did hate when people did that; organizing into massive groups and leaving the few socially awkward kids on the outskirts that is. Even _with_ a few friends, it'd look weird to be outside one of the many groups.

"Guess this is what we get for being late… now we're stuck being outcasts…" Ruby muttered, her shoulders lowering a bit. Jaune nodded a few times… true, he _could_ just send the two of them back in time and fix it but, at the same time, he preferred saving time travel for _serious_ issues. "Well… at least we don't have to be alone in our outcast-ness." he said, smiling as he held out his hand. Ruby looked down at it for a second before she giggled, shaking his hand as if sealing some sort of unspoken pact between the two.

Amber eyes watched the exchange.

"_What is it with those two?_" Blake thought, gently sitting down her book and picking up her journal, making a few notes into it. She would've written in the margins of the page but… no, not in _that_ book she wouldn't. It was too precious to her. The journal was designed for it, less memory attached. She started jotting down what she knew about the two, that familiar itching at the back of her mind kicking in. The way the two interacted. The way they talked, moved, even the way they _breathed_ was familiar to Blake. She herself did many of those same things, after all.

Ruby wasn't exactly good at hiding it. The slight nervous look seemingly part of her expression only got worse around the Arc. The way her eyes would flick about on occasion made her think she was almost paranoid… then again, that didn't really _fit_ with what she'd seen so far. What she'd seen was a shy, bubbly girl that _wanted_ to be outgoing and friendly, but was afraid of messing up… or afraid of _something_ anyway, hard to tell exactly what it was. She seemed worried about something… something being discovered maybe…

Jaune was better at hiding it, the practiced ease of experience. He was more like her, in that sense. Whatever it was he was nervous about, he'd grown so used to it it was just a part of him, as her faunus nature and past was to her. It wasn't about nerves for him, but more about his constant alertness. The way his eyes would always flick around as if they were taking in every little detail before even taking a step. The way his body always seemed tense, ready to strike at the first thing that jumped at him. That wasn't the relaxed posture she'd observed in almost every other person, everyone at ease from being around so many others.

If anything, it was the opposite.

Jaune almost seemed tenser _because_ there were more huntsmen and people around. "_Could he be an infil… no. No, he's… actually…_" her mind couldn't help but trace back to Ilia. "_She can pass for human… she always seems like the innocent, nice girl… shy but, always alert… need to keep an eye on him._" Blake thought, finishing off her journal with a message to herself. _Just_ in case she needed to be reminded:

'Watch out for Jaune Arc'.

Yet looking up at the two… Blake could only come up with two possible scenarios. One: was that the Arc was an _incredibly_ good actor, groomed from experience to be an expert infiltrator for the White Fang. Not highly _likely_ based on his friendship with Ruby (who Blake was _fairly_ certain was human) but at the same time, it was certainly a possibility.

Two… she was bored.

She was bored, her mind saw these two and immediately wanted some kind of a mystery to keep her satisfied. "_Even if I'm wrong… being careful has kept me alive this long._" she thought, pulling out her novel again. She wasn't sure if he was a very good infiltrator or a normal kid with a secret. She wasn't sure if he was older than he looked, or just happened to be naturally cut out to be a huntsman. What she _did_ know, was that Jaune Arc and Ruby Rose were hiding something.

And she was going to find out what.


	5. Memories: Old and New

Something was watching the incoming freshmen.

That _something_ had dark eyes hidden beneath darker sunglasses. Its body was cloaked in a long, brown coat, stretching down to their ankles. Their bald head was hidden by a white fedora, the only light color on them besides their gray skin. They watched a world in slow motion, gazing upon the group as they laughed and joked amongst themselves. The something kept flicking its eyes around, knowing it was invisible from the other side of the glass. Nothing to be seen through the glare of the light and the darkness. It was looking for someone.

Unfortunately for it, that someone was also looking for them.

"Found you." the creature turned, dashing back as Jaune Arc slammed his blade where it stood a moment ago. Unlike the other students, he was moving the same speed if not faster than the creature, dashing ahead and slicing into the creatures coat. The beast hissed at him, getting into a fighting stance before slamming a hand into the ground, a shockwave rippling through the earth. Jaune jumped up, his sword slamming into the wall to keep him off the ground.

He fell a moment later, leaping to the left to avoid the creature's powerful punch. He spun around it, slamming his blade into the creature's back. His blade only went half an inch deep, the creature swiftly dashing forward, spinning around with a grace no human could match. Jaune sheathed his sword, holding up his hands in a fighting stance. "_Should've known I couldn't take this thing down at this point._" he thought. He was _used_ to fighting these things in an older body… he'd need new tactics for less aura and muscle.

The creature looked at him for a few seconds before it charged, slamming its hand toward him. Jaune stepped aside, grabbing the beast's wrist before stepping aside, using its momentum to knock it to the ground. He laid a hand on the side of the creature's head, focusing as his aura started pumping into its head. The beast started screaming as its dark aura started glowing white, flowing over the black mist. Jaune struggled to keep the creature in his grip, it's hands slamming into the ground next to him as his aura started pushing out its own.

A minute later, the creature fell limp. Jaune let go, leaning down and pulling the sunglasses off the creature. He saw it's black eyes slowly shifting, turning into glowing white orbs. The creature slowly stood, looking down at Jaune. "Thank you, master." the creature's voice was a low growl, yet strangely more articulate than Jaune remembered. Normally the creature was more brutish when he turned them. "Don't mention it Gamor. Now head back, make sure the Dominion doesn't crumble again for me, okay?" he said, laying a hand on the old beast's shoulder. It nodded a few times, its face cracking into a smile before it turned to leave.

Jaune reached into his pocket, pulling out his scroll and tapping on the button to bring him back down to normal. Suddenly the creature vanished, seemingly disappearing into thin air. Of course, Jaune knew what had happened. Hard to see something moving _sixty times _faster than he was. He slipped his scroll back into his pocket, walking toward the door he'd taken to get outside. He was a few inches away when he saw an all too familiar someone walking toward him. "Hi, fast friend!" Nora said as she dashed toward him, tackling him to the ground in a hug.

Jaune just pat her back a few times, smiling down at her, "Hey Nora… what're you doing out here?" he asked. Of course, to answer that, she just repeated the question he'd asked… albeit in a more mocking tone but, at the same time. Jaune sighed… he should've expected nothing less from Nora. "I was just getting some air is all." he figured that was the most believable excuse out of the laundry list he'd gotten over the years. It was somewhere between 'I was being chased by a murderer' and 'I had to rescue a kitten from a tree' in its level of effectiveness for Nora though.

She raised an eyebrow, "Why would you need to go outside to get air? Is there no air inside? Is the air inside poison!? ARE WE GOING TO DIE BECAUSE WE BREATHED IN POISON AIR!?" Nora suddenly yelled, gripping tighter to him. Jaune slowly sat up, trying to soothe Nora's… he wasn't honestly sure if he _could_ call it panic. She could just as easily have been faking it as feeling genuine sheer terror… it was always kind of hard to tell with Nora. Jaune, rather uncertain as to what the best course of action was, simply sat there, gently running a hand over Nora's back.

She looked up after a few minutes, eyes sparkling in the dim light. "Nora… calm down… seriously I can't breathe…" he whispered, feeling the girl's absurd strength squeezing the air out of him. She stood straight as a board, waiting for him to get up. When he did, she gently leaned against him. Jaune just sighed, wrapping an arm around Nora's shoulders. "Relax, Nora, nothing bad' going to happen to you. Or me. Or _anyone_." he explained. Nora looked up at him for a few seconds before she smiled, eyes trailing down his side. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"How come you aren't getting ready for bed?"

Jaune's face paled slightly as he looked away, "Uh… I was about to head in and do that… then, you came along so… yeah…" Nora looked up at him for a few seconds before she looked down, realizing that she herself was still in her combat gear as well. She grabbed his hand, nearly jerking the Arc in through the door and into the room. "Come on! You're supposed to be fast, fast friend!" she said, tugging him off toward Ren. Jaune stooped low, grabbing his bag in passing just before Nora nearly shoved him into the wall Ren was sitting back against.

The seemingly sleeping man slowly looked up, giving a faint smile at his companion and her new friend… as soon as he saw Nora's grip on Jaune's wrist, that smile turned more sympathetic. Nora leaned down, digging through her bag for a few seconds before she turned to Ren. "Should I go sloth or semblance?" she asked, holding up two different outfits. Ren didn't even _look_ at which one he picked, casually going back to meditating. He knew he wouldn't get any sleep until Nora was asleep anyway; Why even try?

Nora tossed the 'semblance' version of her pajamas back into her bag, standing up and skipping off toward the girl's bathroom with her 'sloth' version. Jaune watched her until she disappeared behind a door before digging through his own bag, deciding on a simple pair of gray shorts and a white t-shirt. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he saw the blue onesie he vaguely remembered packing. "_No… never again…_" he muttered, remembering the first time he'd been to Beacon… or maybe it was the third? Second? He'd been through time so many times he honestly wasn't sure when certain things happened anymore. Just that they _did_.

As Jaune walked off into the boys' bathroom, a certain silver eyed girl looked up from her letter, gazing at the door. "Whatcha up to sis?" Yang said, falling on the ground next to her. Ruby gave her a smile before going back to writing, just telling her she was writing a letter to her friends at Signal. Yang smiled, "Aww, how cute~ Ow!" she said, Ruby throwing a pillow at the blonde girl's face. Ruby glared at her for a few seconds before she turned back to her letter, glaring at the paper and her writing now.

"Hey, I didn't _get_ to come here with my friends like you did!" she said, glaring at her sister out of the corner of her eye. Yang frowned at her, and _reeeally_ tried to stop herself from making the jab… then again, it _was_ Yang Xiao Long. Resisting was about as useless as trying to drown a _fish_. "How many would that have been?" Ruby felt her face go pink as she glared at her sister, gripping her pen almost as tight as she would grip crescent rose. Her sister knew the answer to that… and no doubt she would compare their friend-count again. "Twelve." Yang gave her a look. "Six…" Yang didn't shift. Ruby sighed, "Okay, fine, three."

"Counting me?"

"Umm… maybe?"

"Sooo you're writing a letter to a dynamic duo at Signal?" Ruby suddenly wanted to slam her head into her pillow and pretend to be asleep for… how long were four Beacon semesters again? Instead, she settled for pulling her sleep mask over her eyes, turning her head from Yang. Yang frowned, wrapping an arm around her sister, "Lighten up a little Rubes, I'm just teasing. You've got _plenty_ of friends… just, not ones that come over to our house that often. I mean -look at you now! I mean there's Jaune, there's those two Ren and Nora… whoahohoho, speaking of…" Ruby pulled her mask up more out of curiosity than anything else.

She felt her face twist in confusion as she saw Nora walk out in… was that a sloth costume? With the claws and the hood in the shape of a sloth's head, it certainly _looked_ like one. Nora looked around for a second before her eyes looked with Ruby, the girl walking toward her. "Hi, soft friend!" Nora said, plopping down right next to her, the impact sending Ruby up off her bedroll a bit. The girl turned, eyes widening as Nora grabbed her, hoisting her over her and turning around. "Wow! You feel even _softer_! I didn't think it was possible!" Nora said, wrapping her arms around Ruby and hugging her tight.

"Uhh… what is she doing?" Jaune asked, taking a seat next to Ren. Ren slowly opened his eyes, looking over the blond for a moment before flicking his eyes toward his companion, a small smile finding his face as he saw Nora hugging Ruby, Ruby's arms waving out to her sides as Nora pulled her to her chest. "Hugging her… maybe a bit too much…" Ren and Jaune looked at one another before standing in unison, slowly walking toward them. By the time they got over there, Ruby had stopped moving her arms, and Yang was taking pictures of the scene with her scroll.

Jaune walked over, grabbing Ruby and pulling her out as Ren gently tickled Nora's neck, getting her to pull her arms back and swat his hands away. Ruby started gasping for air, only standing thanks to Jaune's grip on her arms, "Thank you! Can't… oh my… hard to breathe…" Jaune slowly sat Ruby down, Ruby maneuvering _behind_ her sister this time so Nora couldn't catch her off guard in another suffocating hug. Nora slowly sat up, frowning as she saw Ruby hiding behind Yang.

"Sorry, Ruby…" Nora let her head hang down, more guilty and humble looking than Jaune had ever recalled seeing her. Ruby looked up after a second, frowning at Nora. It's true Nora had almost killed her (well, not really, Yang/Jaune/Ren would've stepped in before that happened), but Ruby still didn't want her to feel bad about it. She slowly stood, crawling over her sister toward Nora. Said girl looked up, blue eyes sparkling as Ruby leaned forward, gently hugging Nora to her. "You said I'm a soft friend… well, soft friends like soft hugs." Ruby said.

Ren's eyes widened as Nora actually followed Ruby's suggestion, gently wrapping her arms around Ruby, laying her head on her shoulder. Nora's face cracked into a smile as she leaned back. Ren just watched, his gaze confused and curious… how? How had Ruby managed to talk Nora into being anywhere _near_ gentle? He'd been trying for _years_ and nothing… "_Then again, I guess Nora doesn't normally try and do that with me._" he thought. His mind was temporarily sated with the explanation. He allowed himself to walk over to Jaune's side, the blond smiling at the scene.

The _other_ blonde nearby was taking pictures again as if hoping to record a momentous occasion: Ruby's _second_ friend at Beacon. After a few seconds of this Ruby laid back down, raising an eyebrow at her sister. "Were you taking pictures just now?" "No." Yang said quickly, tossing her scroll over her shoulder. Ruby looked at her sister for a second before she laid her head down, seemingly ready for bed. Nora smiled as she fell down right next to her, smiling at her soft friend. "Is there room for two here?" she asked.

Ruby just sighed, pulling her sleep mask over her eyes and laying down. Nora seemed to take that as a yes, pulling Ruby close to her and laying her own head down. Jaune and Ren just smiled at the scene, both seemingly having the same idea as Yang as they took a picture with their own scrolls. Yang, meanwhile, went to grab hers, taking it before laying back down on her bedroll. Jaune and Ren went to leave a moment later, both heading back towards their things on the 'boy's side' of the ballroom.

"Nora and Ruby seem to be getting along well." Jaune said as he sat back in his sleeping bag, Ren meditating on top of his. The man looked over, smiling as he saw Nora and Ruby still sleeping, Yang seemingly deciding to join them in sleep. A smile cracked on the stoic ninja's face, "Indeed. I've never known Nora to be so gentle." he said, reiterating his thoughts from earlier. He was _still_ shocked that Nora was being even _remotely_ gentle with Ruby. Jaune just shrugged, smiling over at the two before he turned back to Ren.

"Yeah, well… Nora's never met someone like Ruby."

…

"Jaune…"

The Arc was silent as he slowly approached, blade in hand. He looked down, blue eyes meeting brighter blue. He fell to his knees, gloved hand reaching forward, gently pushing a strand of orange hair from the woman's face. He moved his hand down, cupping her face. She lightly rubbed against his hand, a small smile on her face. Tears fell on the woman's face, yet her eyes were dry. "Why?" Jaune's voice was weak, small… terrified. For all his power… for everything he could do, he couldn't save her… he couldn't save her.

"I said… we'd go together… I meant it." she said, eyes flicking over to her right. Just a few feet away there lay the broken body of her husband. The broken body of Lie Ren, just the way Nora Valkyrie wanted it. The two of them laying next to each other in death, just as they were in life. "Nora… please, let me… I can't lose you too…" Jaune muttered, trying once more to force Nora's aura to accept his. Once more it refused, his attempts to help her shrugged off as her body slowly gave out. Nora shook her head, a single tear falling from her eye, "Promise me you'll bury me next to him, okay?" she said. Jaune covered his eyes with his other hand as he felt Nora's breath slowing.

"I promise… I promise…"

…

"I… promise…"

"Jaune?" The Arc's eyes shot open, his body frozen as his eyes flicked around. He saw the ceiling of the ballroom, he saw the faint rays of dawn shining in from the windows near the ceiling. His eyes flicked to the side, and he saw the familiar silver eyed girl gazing down at him. "Are you okay?" Ruby asked, gently wiping a tear from his cheek. Jaune stared at her for a few seconds before he nodded, wiping at his eyes before slowly sitting up, looking around. He noticed no one else was up… just him and Ruby apparently. "Just a nightmare… I'm fine Ruby." he said, giving her his normal smile.

Ruby didn't believe him, not for a second. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, gently laying a hand over his own. Jaune looked down for a second before he shook his head, going to stand. Though, the second he did, he felt her grip on his hand get tighter. He looked down, watching her silver eyes seemingly glowing with determination… determination to try and help him… "Alright, you win. Come on." he said. He was too tired for this… too early to try and fight a battle of wills with Ruby.

Ruby smiled as Jaune led her out the door he'd walked out just the other night, the one where he'd had to purify Gamor. He walked outside, heading around the side to where he could see the sunrise. Brilliant pink beams striking across the sky… brilliant white clouds streaked red… "Jaune?" the man hadn't realized tears had fallen down his face as he gazed at the sunrise. He'd seen so many it shouldn't have affected him but… given the nightmare he'd just had… his thoughts were derailed when he felt a gentle pressure around his stomach.

He looked down, smiling as he saw Ruby hugging him. He wrapped an arm around her, letting himself slide onto the ground, not caring in the slightest about the drew on the grass. Ruby leaned on him, eyes asking the question he knew she wanted to know. He sighed, "I've lost a lot of people, Ruby… don't think for one second I don't remember each one. The last go around a… friend, of mine died. His wife she… she went out to fight the grimm that killed him on her own. She… I found her and I tried -I _tried_ to help but her aura it just… it _rejected_ me I… I couldn't save her… I couldn't save her because she wanted to die… to die with him. I promised her I'd bury her next to him but…" he trailed off, wiping at his eyes.

"You never did, did you?" Ruby had figured out why this one particular death upset him so much if he'd seen so many. It wasn't just the death… it was the broken promise. It was the fact that he'd promised something so sacred and then just… left. Jaune nodded, "I couldn't move them… they were so perfect… just, so… perfect…" Ruby wrapped her arms around Jaune, leaning his head against her shoulder as she tried to comfort him. Jaune bit into his hand, body shaking as tears flowed down his cheeks. He didn't try and stop them… he'd given up trying to stop them a _long_ time ago.

The two just sat there, Ruby comforting Jaune as Jaune watched the sunrise, his mind years away, in a place that would never exist, sad about something that would never happen. A few chuckles came from his mouth… it was almost funny, in a weird way. Mourning someone who was still alive, still healthy, literally sleeping just inside the building he was leaning against. Ruby leaned back after a second, frowning as she saw Jaune still looking at the sunset. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice lacking her usual hyperactive nature and positivity.

"Yeah, it's… it's just funny, is all. That nightmare was about something that'll never happen now… here I am crying about someone dead when they're alive and well here." Jaune couldn't bring himself to tell her who it was. Whether he wanted the pain to be his secret or he didn't want to worry her, he didn't know. He slowly stood, Ruby standing with him, still clinging to his arm. Both looked up, Jaune smiling at the sunrise. "You know that's one thing that never seems to change." Ruby looked up at him, seeing his eyes a thousand miles -or years- away, "No matter how many times I go through, no matter how many different paths and worlds I visit… the sunrise just never changes…"

"Guess there _are_ some things time can't break." Ruby muttered, smiling up at Jaune. He looked down, smiling at her before he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, guiding the two of them back toward the entrance. He could vaguely see a few people starting to stir inside, Nora groping around where Ruby was earlier. Jaune smiled, looking down at the girl at his side, "Yeah… yeah, there are." he wasn't sure what power compelled him to hug Ruby right then. Then again, neither were really complaining. Jaune seemed to have taken Ruby's 'soft hug' advice to Nora as truth, being more gentle with her than he normally was with anyone else.

Ruby, on the other hand, just smiled, leaning into the Arc's warmth. "_You'd be surprised how much a hug can do, Ruby. You'll appreciate it one day._" Ruby suddenly understood what that old saying meant. That old bit of advice that her father gave… she had to admit, he was completely on the mark with that one. The two stayed like that for a bit, hanging around just outside the door to lead back in. Jaune looked down after a second, chuckling, "What are we even doing?" Ruby giggled, slowly shaking her head before leaning against his shoulder.

"I don't know… we need to go in now, right?" she asked. Jaune nodded a few times, him and Ruby pulling away from each other before he opened the door, gesturing for Ruby to go in first… then she gestured for _him_ to go in first… then he -you get the idea. The two stood there for a bit, neither wanting to be the first one to go inside… until Jaune got tired of waiting and just walked in, letting Ruby walk in behind him. "Why did we make such a big deal of that? _No one_ is awake but us." Jaune said, Ruby blushing slightly as she realized he was right.

"HELLOOOOOO!"

Well, almost.

Jaune ducked out of reflex, Ruby diving over his back as Nora suddenly dove over both, slamming into the wall behind them. Ruby turned, eyes wide as she saw Nora's head through the wall, "OHMYGOSH! JAUNE! HELP!" she said, dashing over to Nora. Jaune, of course, wasn't worried. It may have _looked_ bad, but it was Nora. He waited a few seconds before walking over, leaning down on the other side of Nora. Ruby was panicking, eyes dashing across Nora's seemingly immobile form. Jaune just leaned down, laying a hand on Nora's back.

"Pancakes."

"WHERE!?"

Nora dashed up, Ruby coughing as Nora's head tore through the bricks above her, sending a cloud of dust and mortar toward her and Jaune. Jaune, having the foresight to cover his mouth and nose beforehand, just smiled at her, "In the cafeteria. Go grab Ren, we can head in together." of course, the second Jaune said that Nora just _vanished_, dashing toward Ren. Ruby looked after her for a few seconds, her eyes wide as she saw Nora getting up with seemingly no injuries whatsoever.

"Huh?" that was all Ruby could think to say. Jaune just gave her a smile, slowly shaking his head before he stood, walking back towards his things and -by extension- Nora and Ren. Ruby, meanwhile, just sat there, head turning toward the damage before she wisely decided to get her things and take a shower, making sure she wouldn't be seen as the prime suspect due to her being _coated_ in the dust from the bricks. She grabbed her things, super-speeding into the bathroom as soon as she saw none other than Glynda Goodwitch walk into the ballroom.

Meanwhile, Jaune grabbed his own gear, casually walking into the bathroom as Glynda went to work repairing the damages. Glynda frowned as she fixed the damage, "_Who on Remnant could've caused so much damage THIS early?_" she thought, looking around. Fortunately for Nora, Ren had enough foresight to pull her down to his sleeping bag, hiding her from Glynda's eyes. Said woman just looked around for a bit before sighing, carefully stepping back over the students, back toward her classroom. She had lesson plans to get ready for the upperclassmen anyway.

"Hi, soft friend!"

Ruby yelped as she turned around, covering her bare body as she saw Nora standing there. "Nora! What're you _doing_!?" she nearly shouted. Nora just raised an eyebrow, one hand casually holding her towel and the other holding the door open. What did her soft friend _mean_? She was coming in to do _exactly_ what she was doing? After all, she _was_ still partly covered in dust… and there were a few pieces of brick in her hair. "I'm coming to take a shower… why _else_ would I be here?" she asked, laying a hand on her hip.

Ruby sighed, "I _meant_ why are you coming to mine!? Go to another one!" it was a true testament to the difference between the two women. Ruby, for one, got embarrassed if Yang saw her in so much as her _underwear_. Let _alone_ if Yang saw her naked. Nora, on the other hand, showered with Ren on a regular basis, and was _far_ from embarrassed by… really anything come to think of it. One was highly embarrassed, while the other felt it was completely normal. "All the other ones are taken. Besides, it's not like I've got anything you don't." she said, giving a bright smile at her embarrassed friend.

Ruby looked away, "Just… _wait_, then. I'll be done soon… that means go… now." Ruby pointed toward the outside of the stall, trying to get it through Nora's skull that she was _not okay_ with showering with her. Nora looked at her for a second before she slowly nodded, "Oooh, you're one of _those_ people. Okay! I'll wait!" she said, smiling at her before nearly slamming the stall door. Ruby looked at the frosted glass door for a few seconds before she slowly unfurled herself, turning back to finish washing her hair.

"_What's her deal? Taking a shower alone is NORMAL… isn't it?_"

…

"Nora's weird."

"You're _just now_ figuring this out?" Jaune asked. After he'd gotten out of the shower and gotten dressed he'd -naturally- headed straight for breakfast. Of course, as soon as he got in line, Ruby came up to him and said that. Ruby looked up at him for a second, "You mean _after_ she asked why she couldn't shower in the same stall as me? Yeah… _yeah,_ I did." Ruby said. Jaune felt his face tint pink at the image that brought to his mind. Then again… he couldn't exactly say he was _surprised_ by that.

"Ruby, that's just Nora." he leaned in closer, making sure he wouldn't be overheard. "There've been plenty of timelines she's done the same thing with me and Ren, you aren't the only one." now it was Ruby's face that went red with blush, her mind instantly conjuring images of Jaune, Ren, and Nora all in the shower together… suffice to say, her face was redder than _either_ of her namesakes. Rubies _or_ Roses. Jaune looked at her for a few seconds, letting her imagine the countless scenarios he had little doubt were running through her mind. "For the record, no, it wasn't a threesome."

"I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS!"

"Your face says otherwise."

Ruby glared at Jaune for a few seconds, Jaune just smiling at her embarrassed face before turning around, telling the lunch lady what he wanted for breakfast… and trying to ignore the odd looks he and Ruby were getting from the group of lunch ladies after they no doubt overheard Ruby's scream and his reply… hopefully, they hadn't heard the part about the nonexistent threesome. Ruby got what she wanted before the two made their way toward a table off to the side, Ruby dashing around and sitting on the edge as Jaune took the seat next to her.

"Let me guess, you sat on the edge so Nora couldn't sit next to you?" Jaune asked. Ruby, of course, just nodded. Jaune looked away, a small smile on his face. She'd get used to it… eventually. It took him a few decades but… he got used to it in the end. Ruby _might_ be able to before then, he wasn't sure. Of course, it seemed just saying Nora's _name_ was enough to draw her towards the two, Nora waving wildly at them as Ren calmly walked beside her, caring two plates: one with three pancakes, one with what looked closer to _thirty_.

The two sat down, Nora taking the seat across from Jaune (which Ruby was somewhat thankful for) and Ren taking the seat across from her. "Guess today's the day…" Jaune trailed off, knowing either Nora or Ren would take up his offer for a conversation. Of course, Ren just sat there, letting Nora do the talking as usual. She went into a bit of a tirade -something about beowolves and ursai- before at last turning to back to Jaune. "Ooh! I wonder if we'll all be on the same team! How do we get put into teams? Should we bribe the headmaster? No, wait, that won't work, he has a school." Nora muttered, rubbing her chin before she started eating her pancakes.

"Hey, guys!" Yang said, dragging a nearby chair over and sitting at the end of the table, between Ruby and Ren. Ruby gave a faint smile at her sister -the animosity of the other day had practically vanished overnight- leaning back and relaxing just a bit. Jaune leaned forward, smiling at Yang before his eyes flicked up to Nora, seeing her inhaling another pancake. Jaune's mind was instantly taken back to the police station a few nights ago, remembering Ruby doing virtually the same thing to the cookies Ozpin brought her.

He reached into his pocket, smiling as he saw the note from the shopkeeper was still there, tucked away. That is, until Ruby grabbed it, "What's this?" Ruby asked. Jaune just gestured for her to open it. After all, it wasn't like it was some sort of _secret_ anyway. Ruby opened it, eyes flicking over the text. "_To the blond huntsmen who saved me and my store, thank you and the young girl for everything… awww…_" Ruby smiled at the note, feeling a warm feeling in her chest as she handed the note back to Jaune.

Jaune stowed it away again, sharing the smile with Ruby. "Feels good to be appreciated, doesn't it?" Ruby asked. Jaune just nodded a few times, biting at his own breakfast. Ruby turned back to hers, doing the same and _trying_ to ignore her sister's eyes burning into the back of her head. It wasn't that important, she didn't need to know… that's what Ruby thought, anyway. That being said, she was trying to ignore her sister.

_No one_ ignored Yang Xiao Long. Not for long.

"It was a thank you note from the shopkeeper we saved, okay?" Ruby said, frowning at her sister. Ruby had no idea of the severe consequences such a seemingly innocent statement would bring upon her and her blond friend Jaune in the next few seconds. While Yang took it as it was, having known exactly what was going on, there was _someone_ that was much more… curious. Ruby had no idea that in that statement, she'd aroused a curiosity in a certain individual.

And Nora Valkyrie was _not_ someone you wanted curious.

"You saved a shopkeeper? What, thugs? Grimm? Giant deadly robo-scorpions with brainial beams?! Ancient deadly superheroes from beyond time and space!? Come on! Tell me!" Nora said, nearly leaping over the table toward Ruby and Jaune, her pancakes _long_ finished. Jaune and Ruby looked at one another, both of them slowly turning their heads back towards Nora. "You… you and Ren went to see a sci-fi movie a few days ago, right?"

"No!"

"Yes."

Ren corrected Nora, as usual. Nora feigned being betrayed, a hand over her heart and a false distraught look on her face for about three seconds… then she just leaned against Ren's shoulder, looking back at Jaune and Ruby for her answer. Ruby gestured to Jaune, then Jaune to Ruby… then Ruby to Jaune… then Yang figured 'screw this'. "Jaune and my little sis took fought off Roman Torchwick _and_ saved a shopkeep a few days ago. Pretty _big deal_ if you ask me." Yang said, trying to help her sister and Jaune's popularity game (given she'd been spreading that rumor since they'd done it).

Everyone but her knew it was the _worst_ thing to say to Nora.

"REALLY!?" Nora dashed over the side and would've knocked the two to the ground had Jaune not caught her by her shoulders, moving her off the table and onto the seat next to him. Of course, Nora wasn't done. She dashed ahead, nearly headbutting Jaune, knocking him back. Ruby just froze, feeling Jaune's head fall against her lap, Nora spread over him, arms on his chest as she sat upright, face-to-face with Ruby. "_AWESOME!_" Nora's voice seemed… a way Ruby _never_ wanted to hear it again.

"Oh!" Nora said, suddenly lifted off Jaune. She looked over, smiling as she saw Ren with his hands around her stomach, calmly carrying her back to the other side. Ren sat down, but Nora decided against moving, leaning back against his shoulder. Yang just looked between the two, Ren covering Nora's ears. "Ms. Xiao Long, for future reference, do not tell Nora _anything_ even remotely exciting about one of our friends. As you can see, it does not end well." he said, taking his hands off Nora's head. Nora slowly held her own hands up, covering and uncovering her ears. "Oooowaaaaaaoooooooaaaaaoooohhhh." Nora said, changing pitch as she uncovered her ears, marveling at the sound difference.

"Ohohohokay… this is getting weird -hey Ruby! Uh, you done yet?" Yang said, for once looking to her sister for a way out instead of the other way around. Ruby just nodded a few times, having finished as Nora was… well, being Nora. Ruby stood, eyes flicking back to Jaune. He stood as well, taking his empty tray with him as the three made their way out, leaving Ren and Nora on their own.

"Those two are… yeah…" Yang said as soon as they were out of earshot, making their way to the locker rooms. Ruby just nodded a few times, Jaune shrugged. Ruby couldn't say she really _knew_ the two, but from what she'd seen so far? She _had_ to agree with her sister on that one. They honestly made _her_ strangeness seem completely _normal_. Jaune, on the other hand, had known them for centuries and knew better than to simply call them _strange_. "You're not wrong… then again, it's always the crazy people that are the best in combat, right Ruby?" he said, lightly patting her back.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ruby asked, glaring up at him. Jaune and Yang shared a laugh at that, Yang actually going so far as to high-five the Arc -much to Ruby's chagrin. The three remained oddly silent as they approached the locker room, Yang with nothing to say and the other two _perfectly_ fine with the silence. When the three walked in, Jaune's eyes immediately scanned the room. Two people, Weiss and… "_Don't worry about me! Get them out of here!_" he shook his head, trying to get the last words of the her that would never exist out of his head.

Weiss's eyes immediately found the three of them, glaring at Ruby and Jaune -Ruby in particular. With Jaune, it was more of a passing annoyance… with Ruby, there seemed to be a genuine animosity. Pyrrha Nikos turned around, giving a smile and wave to the three. The three waved back, Jaune walking toward them. "Are we interrupting something?" he asked, eyes flicking between the two. Pyrrha was about to say something when Weiss dashed between the two, glaring up at Jaune and lightly shoving him back. "Yes, indeed we _were_ discussing how the teams will be made this year. Now, we'd like to get back to it."

"Actually, I'd rather like to know if the three of you have an idea as to how the teams are formed." Pyrrha said, smiling at the three. They had rather… different, reactions. For Weiss, it was flat out anger at Pyrrha's innocent disruption. Had she not been clear enough that she _didn't_ particularly like the three of them? For Ruby and Yang, it was more confusion. They weren't aware of how the teams were formed, not any more than Pyrrha was. For Jaune? Well… he'd been through it many times. It was just a simple question.

"I could tell you what it was ten years ago… they may have changed it by now though." he said. Everyone's eyes held a vague interest -even _Weiss_ to some degree- all curious as to what knowledge the Arc could share on the subject. Though, among them, only Ruby was really inclined to take what he said as true. After all, he _was_ the time traveler. "Well, gonna keep us in suspense Arcy? Tell us!" Yang said. Jaune glared for a moment at the new nickname before he cleared his throat, leaning back against the nearby locker.

"Ten years ago the students were launched into the Emerald forest, they fought their way to some sort of relic in the center of the forest with a partner, and that relic told you what team you were part of." he explained. He _conveniently_ left out the part about eye-contact determining who the partner was. After all, he couldn't seem like he knew _too_ much about this. That was about what one of his siblings (provided any of them actually _went_ to Beacon) would have told him. The eye-contact thing wasn't as well known.

The group digested that for a moment, Ruby's eyes widening a bit… she privately hoped that Jaune was wrong, or that he was just messing with them. Then again, the look in his eyes didn't really scream 'messing with her' at the moment. Yang felt a small smirk form on her lips. Now _that_ was an initiation she could deal with. No 'true/false', 'multiple choice' or 'open response' crap. Just a pure, run and gun adrenaline rush. "_Now THAT'S a test I can get behind._" she thought, leaning against the locker next to Jaune.

Weiss was… less impressed. "Well, given that was ten _years_ ago, I'd say they've more than likely changed it by now." she said. Jaune sighed… she _had_ to try and tear him down every chance she got, didn't she? Well, made no difference to him. He knew what would happen, and he'd make sure Ruby knew. That was all that mattered at the moment. Pyrrha, on the other hand, took what he said with a grain of salt, storing the information at the back of her mind -_just_ in case he was right.

Jaune turned, walking toward the exit. He already had his weapons on him anyway. Ruby went to join him as soon as she got crescent rose, leaving her sister to search for her locker. "Guessing that's what really happens?" she said as she got outside, right after making sure they were alone. Jaune nodded, not looking up from his scroll as he started adjusting a few things. Ruby looked up, seeing that he wasn't _actually_ on that time travel app, but rather on his scroll not keeping function. He was mostly just crossing things out, writing new things down. "Whatcha got there?" she asked, getting on her tiptoes to try and see what he was writing.

"Notes. In case I have to go back and change things. This way I'll know what happens when." he said, finishing writing before shoving his scroll back in his pocket, leaning back against the wall. Ruby joined him, mimicking his stance almost exactly. Jaune looked down, giving a faint smile as he ruffled her hair, "Leg's stuck out too much, you're gonna fall like that." he said. Ruby glared at him… but she pulled her leg back in any way. He was probably right after all. Ruby looked toward the door, watching as Weiss walked out past them, nose practically in the clouds as she glared at the ceiling, eyes refusing to meet either of theirs.

"Forgot how much of a bit-" "Hey guys!" Jaune stopped his insult halfway through, looking over to see Nora and Ren walking toward them, Maginhild over her back. Nora walked to the other side, trying to mimic Jaune and Ruby's stance… only for her to make the same error Ruby did, falling to the ground a second later. "Told you." he whispered to Ruby, the girl pouting up at him. Ren did the stance almost better than Jaune, crossing his arms and generally looking like more of a badass. "_Well, that's just not fair…_" Jaune thought, looking over to see Yang walking out. She looked between the two for a few seconds, raising an eyebrow at the apparent pose-off between the two. She just pointed at Ren.

"He's winning."


	6. RNJR and SNBL

"For years you have trained to become warriors, and today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Ozpin said, looking out over the group on their launchpads. Jaune leaned down slightly, looking around at the other people. Ren was just calmly standing, about what he'd expected. Yang had her arms behind her head, seemingly cracking her back -also no surprise. Nora was… being Nora. By that, of course, he meant she was looking around with a big smile, eyes following a little butterfly near her. Weiss was paying acute attention, eyes on the teachers in front of her. Blake was nowhere to be found, at least not anywhere _near_ him. Ruby looked -as expected- _incredibly_ nervous.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today."

"Wha-? Huhh…" Jaune had to stop himself from leaning over and wrapping an arm around Ruby as she made that sound. It always amazed him how some people could make themselves sound so much like a kicked puppy… and almost look like one too, thanks to the puppy dog eyes he knew Ruby could do. He instead turned his attention to Ozpin, watching as the man started speaking.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well."

"Oooh…" Jaune bit his lower lip to keep from trying to comfort Ruby. He could see Yang casting a sympathetic look at her sister, no doubt going through a similar dilemma to the Arc. Even some of the random people nearby were casting sympathetic gazes -and they didn't even _know_ Ruby! Jaune turned back, listening as Ozpin finished his instructions.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

There were some… interesting, reactions from that one.

"WHAT!?" -that came from Ruby.

"See? I told you!" -that was Nora talking to Ren.

"How is _that_ a good idea?"

Jaune wasn't sure _who_ that last one was, but he was inclined to agree. He never _had_ understood that rule about eye contact and landing. Some sort of ancient huntsman ritual? A lesson about teamwork with the most unlikely people? Or was it just a _really_ stupid rule that Ozpin's predecessor had put in place for his own amusement? "_Knowing who his predecessor is, I would NOT be surprised._" Jaune thought as Ozpin continued.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You _will _meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you _will_ die."

"Talk about a trial by fire, huh?" Jaune muttered, eyes flicking over to Ruby. She looked up at him, giving him a nervous smile. Ruby, of course, was hoping she either found Jaune or her sister first. Jaune was more hoping to find Ruby, Ren, Nora, or even Pyrrha to some extent. After all, she _had_ found him numerous times. He could work well enough with her.

"You will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one, and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

A moment of awkward silence passed, everyone looking over at each other for a few seconds. Jaune was tempted to ask something stupid to lighten the mood but… at the same time, he really didn't want to be stuck known as the _class clown_ all year. No, he'd leave that honor to someone else… maybe Nora if she started doing things around everyone else instead of just Ren, him and Ruby.

"Good! Now, take your positions."

Jaune drew his shield and sword, leaning down slightly into a combat stance as he saw Weiss was suddenly launched. Ruby turned to face Jaune, "See you on the other side I guess?" Jaune just nodded, giving her the most reassuring smile he could. She turned to Yang as the man next to her was launched, her sister pulling on a pair of aviator sunglasses before she launched. Ruby went next before, at last, Jaune was launched off the platform.

Jaune looked around, gathering his aura. He'd been through Beacon's initiation _many_ times, and thus, he'd developed _quite_ a few landing strategies. That being said, the one he was about to use was a bit… out there. He focused his aura, looking down to see his arms glowing white as the air zipped past him. He held his arms back, focusing as he sent his aura back toward his body, creating a sort of sheet between his torso and arms. He flexed his arms out, smiling as his aura caught the updraft, slowly his descent. He saw a few people fall past him, a particular blond looking to be having the time of her life as she blasted shotgun shells down toward the earth.

Jaune, meanwhile, just looked around for a semi-decent spot to land. He founded one a moment later, smiling as he saw a small, circular clearing. He angled himself down, body streamlined as he focused his aura back, making a makeshift parachute. He was just a few dozen feet from the ground when he heard it. A loud, high pitched scream. "YAAAAAAAHHH!" Jaune turned himself, eyes wide as a blur of pink suddenly took him down, slamming him into the ground at the clearing. He slowly looked up, thankful his aura had still been behind him and had cushioned the fall a bit.

"Ren? Is that you?" Nora asked, her eyes closed as she laid a hand on Jaune's chest, slowly trailing up toward his face. Jaune sighed, giving a faint smile at Nora as she cupped his cheek, lightly booping his nose a few times. He just leaned his head back a bit, "Yeah, Nora, it's me." Jaune looked over, eyes wide as Nora actually opened hers. The two stared at each other for a moment, the gravity of their situation setting in.

"Why did you lie to me!?"

"Why did _you_ not recognize my voice!?"

"I didn't think you would _lie_ about not being Ren 'person who _clearly_-is-not-Ren'!"

Jaune sighed… he knew better than to argue with Nora. He _knew_ better, yet still, he tried. Still, far from the _worst_ person he could be stuck with. He slowly stood, Nora jumping off him and landing on her feet, frowning at him. "Aww… I wanted Ren…" Nora muttered, _just_ loud enough that Jaune could hear it. He couldn't blame her, not really. If he'd come to Beacon with his best friend, he'd have wanted her to be his partner too. Still… it stung a little, knowing he was a disappointment. "_Well, that's nothing new… been one for a long time._" he thought, frowning as memories started flooding back into his mind against his will. The countless failures he'd had… the countless times he'd screwed up so badly only by traveling back in time was he _actually_ able to fix it.

Nora seemed to notice, "Don't get the wrong idea, fast friend! You're great! It's just… me and Ren have this sort of special 'thing' you know? We were supposed to be together forever -well, not _together_ together but, he was supposed to be there." she said. Jaune smiled… she had _no_ idea yet, did she? That or she _had_ the idea in her head but hadn't really considered it to be all that relevant yet. Jaune just started walking, looking around for a few seconds before he saw the sun, telling him he was going north. Nora followed, practically silent, her face set in an uncharacteristic frown. "Fast friend? Jaune, are you okay? Please say something, I'm sorry!" Nora said.

Jaune turned, giving her a smile, "It's okay, Nora. I get it. Let's see if we can't find the relics and get on a team with Ren, okay?" Nora's face immediately let up at that, dashing ahead of him and overturning every little rock, tree branch, even going so far as to upturn _leaves_ on the ground searching for what might have been a relic. Jaune just smiled at her as she did so, mind filling with memories older than the dirt they walked on… that would never happen… he tried not to think about it too much. Thinking about how to word time travel hurt his head.

"Nora," she looked up, a small snail she was looking under still in her hand. "Do you remember what Ozpin said? The relics are toward the _northern_ end of the forest. We're in the _southern_. Let's wait a little while until we start looking, okay?" Nora nodded a few times. That made sense, at least. She started twirling about, stumbling on the roots on occasion as Jaune calmly walked behind her, his feet finding the natural paths along the forest floor. He'd forgotten walking through the Emerald forest more times than most people would ever do it. His feet knew the way, even if his head forgot.

It wasn't until they reached another small clearing, this one shadowed over with branches, that Jaune felt something… change. He stopped in the center, even Nora stopping and slowly drawing her hammer. "You feel that?" Jaune asked. Nora just nodded, her face dropping into a much more serious version of herself. The pressure, the cold… something was watching them. Jaune turned, Nora doing the same as the two stood back to back. Nora spun her hammer around into a grenade launcher, looking for the _slightest_ bit of movement. "Can I explode it please?" she asked, smiling at Jaune.

"Wait until you _see_ it, Nora. Don't wanna accidentally blow up Ren or Ruby." Nora's face paled as she nodded, immediately spinning her grenade launcher into its war-hammer state. She was _not_ about to risk sending her newest _and_ oldest friends to the moon! It would be too hard to walk around on all the shattered pieces! How could they _live_!? Both froze, their sixth sense for danger kicking in as they turned to the right, Jaune gripping tight to his blade as Nora crouched lower. Jaune saw the leaves rustling, saw a large tree suddenly fall over. "Nora… send that grimm to the moon." Jaune said, a small smirk on his face. Nora's cracked into one even wider,

"_Got_ it."

…

**Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!**

"Huh?" Ruby muttered, looking over her shoulder. Were those… were those explosions in the distance? Had someone found grimm already? She turned back ahead after a second, continuing her trek along the forest floor, rifle gripped in hand. "Yang! Jaune!" she shouted out, picking up her pace a little. She wasn't terribly worried about the grimm. She'd yet to meet a grimm that could outrun her semblance. Speaking of, she decided to activate her semblance, still shouting out Yang and Jaune's names as she ran.

She ran at a good clip for quite some time, at last slowing down in the middle of a clearing, hands on her knees. "Whew… how have I not found _anyone_ yet? What gives?" Ruby muttered, looking around. It wasn't just that she'd yet to find a desirable partner. She'd yet to find a partner at _all_! She felt her mind start racing with possibilities. What if there was no one left? What if everyone was either dead or partnered up already? What if she was on her own? What would happen if she went up to the cliff with no partner? Would she be okay? Would she be punished!? Would she be _expelled_!?

Ruby saw the dark spots on the edge of her vision before she grabbed the sides of her head, taking a few breaths. "_Calm down Ruby… calm down. You're just drawing more grimm to you if you panic… find someone first, THEN worry about later._" she thought. Unfortunately, her minor bought of panic had brought on _exactly_ what she'd expected it would. She was too busy trying to calm down that she didn't hear the faint hissing, didn't sense the two serpent heads making their way towards her. When she finally sensed them, she looked up, eyes wide as the black head suddenly lunged at her.

She dove back, stabbing her scythe into the ground, using its blade like a makeshift tripod as she started firing, knocking the King Taijitu's black head back. She pulled crescent rose from the ground, spinning it around her back into her normal combat stance. "_Still better than dealing with people…_" she thought, firing a bullet and dashing forward. Her blade made a small cut through the Taijitu's neck, the beast hissing in anger. Ruby gulped as it dashed toward her, her semblance the only thing keeping its fangs from being in _her_ instead of the ground. She aimed crescent rose at the ground, seeing her chance.

She fired and jumped, sending herself spinning through the air with the recoil. She made her way down, activating her semblance as her eyes zeroed in on the beast's neck. Unfortunately, that gave Ruby _quite_ the blind spot, giving the white head of the king free reign. "OOF!" Ruby felt the wind knocked out of her as the other head head-_butted_ her, knocked her off into a tree. She managed to slam her scythe into the side to keep herself from falling, eyes turning back toward her attacker. She saw both slowly rising, the black having freed itself. "_How am I supposed to take these things down!? Crescent rose can barely SCRATCH them!_" Ruby thought, her mind giving in to the temptation of panic.

She saw the Taitiju heads both dashing at her, fangs seemingly extending. Ruby yelped, firing and dashing off the tree, watching as the Taitiju's powerful jaws ripped the tree into three pieces. She looked around, trying to find _some_ sort of weakness on the beast. "_Think Ruby THINK! What are it's weak points!?_" she thought, trying to remember what her father had taught her about the creature. When that failed, she tried her uncle… then her other teachers… then again, given the rarity of the King Taitiju grimm, there weren't many beginning professors that _discussed_ it either.

Either way, Ruby had little time to think as the Taitiju heads both turned, slithering toward her. She had to do something, _fast_. "_Wait.. fast! That's it!_" Ruby thought, almost kicking herself for not realizing. Her semblance was _speed_! Why was she just standing around!? She turned, firing crescent rose behind her, running around the branches and building up as much speed as she could. She turned, a small smile on her face as she fired behind her, launching herself straight at the Taitiju. Her eyes narrowed in on the cut she already made, her blade held back. "YAAAAH!" she screamed as she sliced forward, her legs slamming into the ground, a tree falling next to her a second later.

She turned, jumping in celebration she saw the black head of the Taitiju writhing on the ground. "YEAH!" she shouted. As soon as she landed, her eyes flew open wide as the Taitiju's gaping maw came toward her. She closed her eyes, holding up her arms and bracing for impact… only for it to never come. She slowly opened her eyes, both widening as she saw the familiar head of black hair holding back the Taiitju's fangs. She saw his pink aura pulsing around his hands, keeping the beast's fangs at bay. He swung his hands to the side, snapping its fangs off and gripping them in each hand before slamming them beneath the beast's jaws.

Ren slowly turned, magenta eyes meeting silver. "Uhh… thanks, partner." Ruby said, both thankful she'd found a partner, and a bit sad that it wasn't Yang or Jaune. Ren gave her a faint smile before he turned, drawing his weapons from his sleeves before slamming them into the top of the Taitiju's head, firing a few bullets into it. Ruby just looked at it for a second before turning back to Ren, "Guessing you wanted Nora, right?" Ren just nodded, eyes gazing off toward the sound of the explosions. Ruby could put two and two together on _that_ one.

She started walking that general direction, "Where are you going?" Ren asked. He could guess, of course, but he wanted to make sure either way. Ruby just pointed toward the direction of the sound, raising an eyebrow at him. _She_ thought it was fairly obvious where she was going. Heading off to meet Nora and whoever her partner was -provided she'd found one already. Ren shook his head, "Nora will meet us at the temple. She can take care of herself. My only concern is whoever her partner is…" he wasn't worried about Nora in the _slightest_. The girl practically made him feel sorry for the _grimm_. Whoever her partner was though… well, they had their work cut out for them.

Ruby nodded a few times, thanking dust that she'd found Ren and not the more hyperactive friend… partner… sister? "What _are_ you and Nora anyway? Are you uh… friends? Siblings? Cousins? What?" Ruby asked. She may have been among the most socially inept people in her (albeit small) friend group, but she was _fairly_ certain she could recognize _some_ kind of attraction between the two. What it was… well, there was a reason she asked. Ren just gave a small smile as he started walking north, Ruby following next to him. "She's… I guess you could say, my sister. We aren't related by blood but, we've been together since we were little kids." he said, his face resuming it's normal neutrality as his mind recalled him and Nora meeting… recalling Kuroyuri…

"Oh, okay… hey! Look!" Ruby said, thankful for whatever distraction she could get. Just a few feet away, she saw what looked like a cave. She dashed toward it, stopping near the entrance as Ren jogged to catch up with her. Ren looked at the side, seeing the many different writings on the entrance. He didn't recognize most, but what looked to be an X was painted over the entrance. "This must be the place! X marks the spot!" Ruby said, somewhat excited. She hadn't expected to find it so easily. Ren was, understandably, a bit skeptical about finding it. That and, in his mind, an X could mean _much_ more than just it 'marking the spot' as Ruby thought.

Though, by the time he attempted to voice his concerns, Ruby had already leaned down and started crafting a small torch from a stick. Ren walked over as Ruby struggled to light the torch, her face set in a pout as she struck rocks against other rocks. Ren leaned down, holding his hand over the torch. After a few seconds the torch was alight, Ruby's eyes wide as she held it up in both hands. "How did you _do_ that!?" Ruby asked, eyes awestruck. Ren just gave a small smile… all he'd done was use his aura to create a spark.

The two started walking, Ruby holding the torch around to see the walls of the cave. "Ruby, I'm fairly certain this isn't the relic's location," Ren said, getting his weapons out -_just_ in case something went horribly wrong. Ruby sighed as she held the torch near the wall… she had to concede that Ren was right. There wasn't anything _in_ this cave. She turned around, walking toward the entrance… then she felt the ground rumbling. "Umm… Ren? You feel thAAAAA!"

Ruby fell to the ground, dropping the torch as the cave around her shook with the vibrations. Ren stayed at the ready, aiming his weapons around all over the place, pressing his back against the wall so he only had to react to threats in front of him. It was about thirty seconds after the first impact that the shaking stopped. Ruby slowly stood, groping around in the dark before her. Her heart started pounding as she felt rocks coming away at her fingertips, her breathing getting faster.

Ren held out his hands, focusing as a faint, pink light lit the cavern, creating just enough light for the two to see. Sure enough, what Ruby had felt was correct. Even Ren couldn't hold back the worried look on his face. Where Ruby was, where they'd come in, there was a cascade of rocks. Ruby slowly turned to Ren, her face one that was startlingly familiar to Ren. The face of a young, terrified little girl. 

"We're trapped… aren't we?"

"Not necessarily," Ren said, holding up his hand to the right of Ruby. Just next to the collapsed cave entrance, there was yet _another_ cave, this one leading further into the belly of the earth. Ren started walking through it, Ruby dashing after him as soon as the darkness started closing in. "Is this really a good idea?" Ruby asked. No, no it wasn't. Ren knew that. Ren knew that it was most likely the _worst_ idea he'd ever had, but at the same time, they were out of options. He and Ruby couldn't dig out that main entrance, and even if they could the odds were the whole cave would collapse on top of them.

The two started walking down the small slope, some of the rocks glistening in the light. "_Odd… maybe a subterranean water source somewhere around here? Condensation? Doesn't explain why there'd be so much of it though…_" Ren thought, feeling the first seeds of worry sow themselves in his mind. Something was _definitely_ off, he could feel it in his bones… or maybe that was just the vibrations? Hard to say. The two walked in silence, but far from a companionable one like Ren was used to. There was something almost oppressive and suffocating about the silence they walked in as if there was something in the caves that wanted them dead.

"Ren, look! Up ahead!" Ruby said, voice suddenly excited as she saw the light. Ren looked over, his eyes widening… that wasn't surface light. That wasn't dust light. That was something _much_ worse. Yet Ruby dashed ahead anyway, suddenly excited. Ren's warning cry had just reached his lips when Ruby reached the light, raising an eyebrow at it. It looked to be a small, glowing oval, stretching down into a point. "What… _is_ this?" Ruby muttered, reaching up to grab it, only for it to move away. She glared at it, jumping up and trying to grab it again, only to fail. The third time she _did_ grab it, only for whatever it was to pull up, brilliant red eyes gazing at her.

"Hi… mister… RUN REN! RUUN!"

…

"WAAAAAAHH!"

Jaune screamed, clinging to the Ursa for dear life. Nora, meanwhile, was having the time of her life, laughing and shouting in glee as she repeatedly slammed her hammer against the Ursa's back, forcing it forward. Amazingly, Jaune managed to hold on (and avoid spilling his lunch (once again, _thank_ _you_ motion sickness pills)) until at last Nora pulled back, firing a grenade into the back of the Ursa before tumbling off its head, the beast lying dead on the ground. "Aww… it's broken…" Nora muttered, lightly kicking at its head.

"Nora… _please_ warn me next time you take an Ursa on a joy ride, okay?" Jaune said, making his way over to her. He looked up after a second, eyes widening as he realized Nora's plan had… _actually_ worked. There was the temple, with Yang and Blake standing right in front of it, a little white knight piece in Yang's hand. Jaune walked over as Nora walked around, seemingly searching for another 'toy' Ursa to play with. Jaune, almost on instinct, grabbed the white rook piece. "Hey! Nora!" Nora looked up, eyes sparkling and wide as she dashed over to him, snatching the rook piece from his hand. She, of course, placed it on her head and started dancing around.

"I'm queen of the castle~ I'm queen of the castle~"

"Got stuck with crazy hammer girl?" Yang asked. Jaune just nodded, letting Nora get away with playing for a few more seconds. That is until he heard the screaming. He looked around for a second, confused as to where it was coming from… then he saw Ren dash out from the trees. He looked further, eyes wide as he saw Ruby suddenly come flying out, screaming her head off as she flew above them. "Yang! Boost me up!" Jaune said, his instincts taking charge. Yang barely thought as she crouched, clasping her hands in front of her. Jaune planted his feet on them, Yang sending him skyward as he used his aura, bouncing off just as she sent him up.

Jaune held his arms out, Ruby flying into him, knocking the two into a nearby tree. Ruby opened her eyes, both looking up to see Jaune smiling down at her. "Dropping in?" Ruby gave him a faint glare for that one before she looked back, eyes widening as she saw the deathstalker from before charging through the forest, chasing Ren. Jaune looked at it for a second before looking back at Ruby, "Friend of yours?"

"Yeah, a _really_ clingy one," Ruby said, jumping off Jaune and down the tree, the Arc doing the same a moment later. The five that weren't being chased by a deathstalker gathered at the temple, Ruby looking toward the relics. She grabbed the first one she saw -that being a white rook. Jaune smiled, "_Same team then… I can work with this._" he thought, turning his eyes back toward the deathstalker… until he heard the screeching. Everyone looked up, Jaune's eyes wide as he saw Pyrrha suddenly flying down, slamming into the ground with her shield almost like a skateboard.

"That… was insane…" Weiss said, her head emerging from behind Pyrrha, hands still locked in a death grip around her waist. Pyrrha rubbed behind her head, giving an apologetic smile to Weiss. Just as the two walked to them (well, more dragged in Weiss's case) Ren was flung toward them by the deathstalker. He landed a palm on the ground, leaping up and spinning around, weapons at the ready. "Gang's all here," Jaune muttered, looking up to see the nevermore circling back.

"Yeah, now we can die together!" Yang said, glaring at the deathstalker. Before Jaune could say anything, he felt the wind running past him. The only problem? That 'wind' was colored bright red and left behind a trail of rose petals. His eyes widened as he saw Ruby slam her scythe onto the deathstalkers bony back, only to be knocked back a second later. "GET OUT OF THERE RUBY!" him and Yang both yelled, both dashing toward her. Ruby staggered back, firing a few rounds at the creature before turning back and bolting. Jaune and Yang were still far away when the nevermore came down for a strafe, sending feathers into the ground. Both staggered back, feathers landing in front of them.

Yang looked around the feather, heart in her ears as she saw her sister's cape pinned beneath it. "RUBYYYY!" Yang yelled, dashing past the feather. Time slowed as she held out her hand, eyes wide as she saw the deathstalker move. It was faster. Faster than her. Faster than her sister even. She saw the stinger descend, aimed right for her sister. Ruby looked up, eyes wide as she saw it. Yang pushed herself, harder than she ever had. She was fast, the Deathstalker was faster,

But Jaune was a _blur_.

A white pulse knocked the deathstalker back, the beast roaring in pain as Yang saw it's stinger nearly detach. Meanwhile, there stood Jaune, both his hands glowing white, his aura crackling almost like electricity, his hands blurring slightly. Yang dashed ahead, taking _no_ chance as she hoisted the feather out of the ground, tossing it aside and wrapping her sister in her arms. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?" Yang couldn't stop herself from yelling. Embarrassing her sister or not, _she'd almost died_! She had to know.

Ruby just looked down, "It was my fault this thing is here… I wanted-" "RUN!" Ruby didn't think, grabbing her sister and dashing through the feathers, back to the ruins. Jaune joined them a moment later, leading the deathstalker in a giant circle. Yang looked back, Nora aiming her grenade launcher at the beast… no good. As long as Jaune was so close, she couldn't get a clear shot. "We have to help him!" Ruby said, looking at the others. Pyrrha nodded a few times, drawing her sword and shield, looking along the deathstalker to _try_ and find a weak point.

"Pyrrha! Throw your spear at its stinger when I say!" Weiss yelled, dashing toward it. She spun the cylinder on her rapier, her blade glowing light blue as she approached. She dashed toward Jaune, locking eyes with him for a moment. Jaune understood, if only for a moment. He dove to the ground, letting Weiss jump over him and slam her blade into the ground, a sheet of ice flowing across the ground. The deathstalker tried to back away, the old grimm recognizing the blue substance. It managed to back away a few feet, preventing it's back two legs from getting stuck. The other four? Not so much.

"PYRRHA! NOW!"

"ON IT!"

Pyrrha threw her spear, focusing as the tip glowed black. She tilted it slightly, the spear thunking home in the beast's stinger. It roared in agony, it's stinger sagging a bit. Pyrrha noticed this, focusing as her whole spear glowed black. It roared louder as the spear and stinger slowly pulled lower, nearly tearing it loose from the beast itself. That is, until her spear tilted slightly, slamming into the ground near her. Jaune ran back to the others, everyone else dashing back as the nevermore made another pass, sending another volley of feathers at them.

Yang picked up one of the feathers, hurling it at the deathstalker. It pinged against its armor and seemed only to enrage it more. "The ice won't hold it forever! It's going to break through soon!" Weiss said, looking back at everyone as she spun her cylinder to white. Nora smirked as she aimed her grenade launcher at the creature. If that ice wouldn't hold it forever, now was her _perfect_ chance! She started firing before anyone could stop her, launching four grenades before the creature broke free. The first two hit its claws, the third it's back, with the last one breaking it loose.

"Guys… our mission was to get the relics. There's no reason to stay and fight these things." Ruby said, looking out at the group. Jaune nodded a few times… it wasn't that he wouldn't be able to fight them off, but it wouldn't be easy to fight a nevermore _and_ a deathstalker without relying on some of his more… _unorthodox_ techniques. He'd already used one to save Ruby, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to explaining _that_ one. "No reason to waste more ammo than you have to, right?" Jaune got a few nods from that, even _Weiss_ begrudgingly acknowledging he had a point. She'd already used up quite a bit of her ice dust from the deathstalker.

Everyone started dashing toward the cliff face, the Deathstalker in hot pursuit. A few people -most notably Pyrrha and Ren- took potshots back at it, trying to stall its approach. It was to no avail of course, given the beast just charged through the bullets. Jaune looked up, eyes wide as he saw the nevermore coming low for a pass. "EVERYONE DOUBLE TIME IT! GET TO THE OTHER SIDE!" Jaune yelled, wrapping an arm around Nora's waist and pumping aura into his legs, dashing to the other side of the beast's wings.

When the nevermore slammed into the bridge supports, it was Jaune, Nora and Ruby on the other side, everyone else either falling or stuck with the deathstalker. He saw Blake move about on the falling stones, slamming gambol shroud into one of the pillars and flinging herself up onto the safer side. "Okay… now what?" Nora asked, firing a few grenades at the nevermore's belly as it made another pass. Jaune watched the nevermore for a moment before he turned back, watching the other three attacking the deathstalker. "If we can ground this thing, we can kill it," Jaune said… the problem, of course, was _how_ to do that.

"GRAVITY!"

Jaune raised an eyebrow at Ruby… that would work _eventually_ sure -what goes up must come down and all that- but at the same time, they didn't really have time for the nevermore to tire itself out. "What… _exactly_, did you have in mind?" Blake asked, raising an eyebrow at the excited Ruby. Ruby reached around her belt, patting for a second before she, at last, grabbed a clip that looked to have a small symbol of an arrow in a circle on it. "Gravity dust! If I hit enough on the right spots, it'd make the nevermore too heavy to fly!" Ruby said, loading her rounds in. Jaune had to admit, it was a rather solid plan… with one small flaw.

"How many bullets do you _have_, Ruby?"

Ruby looked at him blankly for a second, blinking a few times before she looked at the ground, "Uhh… ten?" Blake slowly shook her head, hand on her forehead. Nora frowned, turning her eyes back to the deathstalker group. They were holding it off, she could tell that much, but they were losing too much ground. Eventually, they'd be fighting on the few stone barriers that were left. Jaune looked up, eyes widening as he had an idea, "Ruby… I think you've got enough bullets. Its wings are too heavy but, if we can fire on its _tail_-" "Then it'll be stuck long enough to finish it off!" Ruby finished for him, sharing a smile with him.

Blake looked between the two for a moment… how? How were they both _more_ confident and comfortable in the middle of a life-threatening fight than they were in the middle of a school? Her mind flashed back, repeating what had happened with Jaune a few moments prior when he'd saved Ruby from the deathstalker. "_Was that his semblance? How did he move so fast? There was also that crackling… strange…_" Blake thought, turning her attention back to the rapidly approaching nevermore.

Her eyes widened as Jaune suddenly jumped from the bridge, blade in hand. The beast screeched as Jaune slammed his blade into its wing, his feet scrambling for purchase on it's back. Nora fired a few grenades at its belly, rocking the foundation Jaune was standing on. He pulled his blade out, dashing to the other wing before slamming his blade through -with more than a little help from his aura. It screeched once again, Jaune jumping off as it crashed into the cliff. "RUBY! NOW!" Jaune yelled, sheathing his blade as he came in for a landing. Nora dashed toward him, nearly destroying the ground beneath her as she jumped.

"Hi Jaune!" she said as she met him in mid-air, giving him a bright smile as the two fell, Nora's legs slamming down to her knees into the stone ruins. Jaune stepped off of her, Blake and Ruby running to the two, both firing what gravity dust bullets they had at the beast's tail. Sure enough, what Jaune predicted came to pass, the beast flapping its wings while its tail was weighed down. "Well, it's trapped… now what?" Blake asked, looking between the two. Jaune rubbed his chin, trying to think of a way to _actually_ kill the thing.

"I wonder… Blake, do you have any gravity dust bullets left?" Ruby asked. Blake felt around her pockets for a moment before she nodded, holding up two bullets. Ruby smiled, grabbing them from her before she sat down, stripping off her boots and socks. "Umm… what are you doing?" Blake asked, more than a bit weirded out as Ruby tossed her boots and socks back at her. Ruby grabbed her scythe, slamming the bottom point of it onto the two bullets, splitting them open. She sat down, gathering the black gravity dust in one hand before licking the other. Jaune's eyes widened, "You plan to activate that so you'll stick to the cliff, don't you?"

"Yep! It won't work if I can't activate it with my aura though," she said, stifling her laughter and disgust as she both feet in the saliva from her hand, coating the dust over them a moment later. She shook them a bit, smiling when she found none of the dust came off. She grabbed her rifle, looking toward the cliff, "Here's hoping," she muttered, loading her normal bullets back into crescent rose. She dashed toward the edge of the ruins, forcing herself not to activate her semblance.

"DIE ALREADY!"

**BANG! BANG!**

Yang jumped to the side as the deathstalker charged, blinded by her shots. As soon as it was past her Weiss slammed her blade into the ground, a chain of explosions sending the bridge tumbling into the abyss, with the deathstalker still on it. The four staggered back from the edge, all panting somewhat. Yang wrapped an arm around Weiss's shoulder, "I won't lie Ice Queen, I cannot _believe_ that worked." she honestly expected that thing to grab her, throw her off the cliff, and she'd have to make her way back up… which, granted, wouldn't actually be that difficult for her.

Weiss glared at Yang for a moment before she looked up, eyes wide as she saw the nevermore slowly rising. Upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't rising, but rather being _dragged_ up the side of the cliff. She saw the faint red dot dashing along the cliff, heading for the edge. "Is that…?" "My sister? Yeah… _yeah,_ it is…" Yang said, smiling as she saw what she knew was Ruby dash up the side, sending the Nevermore and its head careening into the abyss with the deathstalker. Yang smiled as she saw Ruby giving what she figured was a thumbs up to her friends down below.

"_All it took for you to make friends was a giant bird of death… who'd have thought?_"

…

"Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long."

The four girls slowly stepped forward, each of them -barring Weiss- smiling at the headmaster. Jaune, Ruby, Nora, and Ren were standing just behind them, Ruby smiling at her sister. "The four of you retrieved the white knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as, team SNBL (Snow Blue). Led by… Weiss Schnee!" Yang… well, she did the Yang thing and wrapped an arm around Weiss, hoisting her in the air a bit as everyone applauded. Pyrrha and Blake just smiled at the two before turning back to one another, each grabbing their respective partner's wrist and dragging them off the stage.

"Ruby Rose, Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc, and Lie Ren."

The four walked forward at their cue, standing with their hands behind their backs, all still smiling. "The four of you retrieved the white rook pieces. From this day forward you will work together as, team RNJR (Ranger). Led by… Ruby Rose!" Ruby's eyes widened as Ozpin said her name. Jaune just smiled, patting her shoulder. Ren gave an encouraging look. Nora… well, Nora did a Nora thing. "WOOOO!" by that, of course, she hoisted Ruby over her head, throwing her in the air almost ten feet before Jaune stepped forward and caught her.

"Ms. Rose," Ruby looked at the headmaster, "the four of you need to follow me. There is something else we must discuss." Ruby turned her head to Jaune, somewhat nervous… then her face quickly shifted to embarrassment as she realized she was still holding onto Jaune and in his arms. She made her way down, the group of four slowly following Ozpin out the doors and into the hallway. He turned around, smiling at the four of them, "I assumed you'd want some privacy when I asked you this: Where on Remnant did you learn such unorthodox fighting techniques?" Jaune's face instantly paled, recalling what he'd done during initiation.

Though, it was Ruby that answered. "Hehe… if you mean the whole 'covering my feet in gravity dust thing' I uh… I dunno. I just uh… just kinda thought of it." she said, rubbing a hand behind her head. Ren's eyes widened… why they hadn't told _him_ that he wasn't sure. Ozpin slowly shook his head, eyes flicking to Ren and Nora, "Mr. Lie, Ms. Valkyrie, the two of you report to your dorm, begin organizing your things." the two walked away… something was off. Jaune _knew_ something was off. Why would Ozpin single him _and_ Ruby out like this? Did it have something to do with time travel? Something to do with what had gotten Ruby into Beacon?

Ozpin smiled, "There's no need to be so worried Mr. Arc, neither you nor Ms. Rose is in any trouble." Ruby let out a sigh of relief at that one, smiling at Jaune. Jaune smiled back -no less on edge. Just because they weren't in trouble didn't mean Ozpin hadn't figured something out. "I won't keep both of you very long, I simply wanted to ask you, Mr. Arc," Jaune instantly reached for his scroll, "where did you learn to control your aura to such a degree?" Jaune relaxed a bit. _That_ was a question he could safely answer, at least.

"My mom taught me. I uh… I'm not all that _great_ with a sword so I uh, try to compensate with my aura," Jaune said. Ruby raised an eyebrow at him… sure he didn't seem to use it _that_ much but, she'd hardly call him _bad_ with a sword. Ozpin nodded a few times… that confirmed a few things for him, just not what he wanted to confirm. "Interesting… I recall when one June Arc was here at my school. If memory serves she had some of the worst aura control of her year." Ozpin smiled as Jaune's face paled further. It was looking more and more like it wouldn't end well.

Ozpin chuckled, "If you don't wish to tell me, Mr. Arc, I won't make you. Now, head to your dorm. The freshmen will have _quite_ a day tomorrow." Ozpin turned away, walking back toward his office. Jaune let out a breath he didn't know he was holding… he hadn't been compromised again, at least. Speaking of that compromise, Ruby took his wrist. Jaune looked down, raising an eyebrow at her, "What is it Ruby?" he asked as the two started walking back to their dorm. Ruby didn't say a word, waiting until they were completely alone before she spoke,

"How _did_ you get so good with your aura?"


	7. The Unnameable

"Time travel, Ruby."

Ruby slowly nodded a few times. At least that explained why he'd _not _explained anything to Ozpin. "How so?" that being said, just saying 'time travel' when it came to Jaune could mean a _lot_ of things. Did he mean that he'd been around long enough that his aura just kind of traveled with him? Had he brought his aura back in time with him? Did he find some way in the future to store aura and then carry it around like a little bubble that he popped if he needed it? There were _so_ many possibilities.

Jaune sighed, "Well, the easiest explanation is that during time travel my soul still moves through time itself. It's how I travel. So, instead of having my seventeen-year-old soul, I have my… wait, how old _am_ I now…?" Jaune scratched his chin, looking up to try and figure out how long… he'd been through a few dozen timelines so, his soul was at _least_ over a hundred years old… then again sometimes he wasn't anchored so, was it even his real soul? Ruby interrupted by grabbing his arm, shaking her head, "It's okay, you don't have to tell me that." she honestly would've been _far_ too weirded out if she knew how old Jaune _really_ was when he looked only a bit older than her.

"Right… anyway, that thing I did to save you from the deathstalker was uh… well, time travel," he said. That was the simplest way he could think to explain it. He affectionately referred to it as 'blinking' but, then again, that wouldn't mean anything to Ruby. Ruby slowly nodded… that _would_ explain how he'd moved so fast -and maybe even the crackling electricity around him. "So you activated your time machine in front of everyone… just to save me?" Ruby asked, face tinting pink. She was glad he did it of course but, to risk such a secret for her…

Jaune shook his head, "Not exactly. It's more like… kind of like… hmm… I guess the easiest way to explain it is that after going through time so much I… it's almost like an extra semblance. Except… well, you know, it's a _lot_ harder to control." Jaune _really_ hoped that made sense to her… because it sure didn't make sense to _him_. Ruby, on the other hand, could _somewhat_ understand where he was coming from with this. "Oooh… so, you can time travel without meaning to?" she asked.

"Sort of, yes."

"Can _I_ do that?"

Jaune smiled at her bright-eyed, innocent expression. He rubbed his hand over her head, "I've been going through time since before you were born, while you've been alive, and after you've _died_ Ruby, you've been in a different time than this one for -what- two minutes?" Ruby fought down the urge to smile and press further into his hand… well, she fought down the smiling part anyway… no, nevermind, she completely gave in. She was smiling and rubbing into his hand, having held out maybe… ten seconds, at most. Jaune just chuckled, taking his hand off her head as the two rounded the corner to their dorm. Though, they weren't alone apparently. Leaning against the door right across from theirs- "Hey sis!"

"Yang?" Ruby was, of course, genuinely confused. Why was her sister out this way? Was her dorm nearby? Had she just come to see her? What was going on? Yang walked over, casually wrapping her arms around her little sister. "I am sooo _proud_ of you!" of course, Ruby had _fully_ expected that. The fact she was named team leader was only going to add fuel to her sister's fire. It was something she didn't _want_ but, really couldn't _help_ at the same time. She was a team leader and… well, there was no getting around that. "It was nothing, sis," Ruby said.

"Nothing!? Ruby, you got into Beacon two years earlier, made a bunch of new friends on the first day, _and_ you're the team leader! It was definitely _something_ Rubes!" Yang wrapped an arm around her sister's shoulder, rubbing her sister's head -_far_ harder than she'd have liked her to at that. Ruby struggled to muscle her way out of her sister's grasp… of course, this was _Yang_ she was trying to out muscle. It wasn't happening. Normally, she'd have just had to sit there and wait for her sister to release her. "Yang, mind not crushing my leader's spine?"

Fortunately for her, Jaune was nearby. Yang looked up, looking down at Ruby for a second before letting go, her eyes flashing dangerously at Jaune for a split second before she let go of Ruby. Ruby immediately dashed behind Jaune, "Thank you," she whispered to Jaune. The older boy just nodded, giving a smile behind him before he turned to Yang. Yang looked at him for a second before she shrugged, "Catch you around Arcy -and no funny business you two!" Jaune just sighed as Yang walked into the room _right_ across from the one he knew was team RNJR's.

He looked back, "Guess your sister's our neighbor." Ruby pouted, looking at the floor as the two made their way forward. It wasn't that she hated her sister's company. In fact, _nothing_ could be further from the truth. Other than _maybe_ Jaune now, Yang was the person she'd always pick if she had to choose one person to be stuck with. That being said, she wasn't looking forward to being teased/pranked almost _every_ morning. She just sighed, walking ahead and opening the door to her team's dorm.

"Hail, Ruby!"

"Nora… what are you doing?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow at the bubbly 'N' of team Ranger. She was in her normal outfit, standing on a chair and saluting her. That lasted about three seconds before she opened her eyes and casually let herself fall forward, face slamming into the floor. "We have carpet," Nora stated, still staring at the floor. Ruby, understandably weirded out, slowly walked around Nora to the side of the room with her stuff near it. Apparently, Ren and Nora had organized the room while they'd been talking with Ozpin. Jaune and Ren had the bed's on the edges, with Ren's closer to the bathroom and Jaune's the window, while she and Nora got the beds in the center.

Jaune started unpacking with the practiced ease of centuries. He'd been through Beacon enough times to know _exactly_ where he'd put his things, _exactly_ where everything should go, etc. Ruby was a bit slower, even _with_ her semblance, dashing about and seemingly just throwing stuff around. Nora just stood from her place on the floor, laying on her bed and watching as Ruby sped around while Jaune effortlessly sorted all his things. Ren, in the meantime, was cross-legged on the bed, reading a small book.

After about two minutes Jaune was done, waiting on Ruby to finish three minutes later. Ruby fell back on the bed, panting slightly, "Done… finally…" Ruby said, looking to her right. She saw Nora just staring at her, Ren still reading his book. Her eyes flicked to Nora, the two gazing at each other for a few seconds before Nora smiled, "Maybe I should've called _you_ fast friend… nah, you're still a soft friend." Ruby barely reacted as Nora leaned down, gently wrapping her arms around Ruby. Ruby smiled, reciprocating the hug in seconds. At least Nora remembered her _soft friend-soft hug_ advice.

Nora stood after a minute, laying back on her bed. Ruby, meanwhile, looked around at the silent crowd. Ren was reading his book, but Jaune and Nora were looking to her as if waiting to see what she would do next. Ruby wasn't sure why… until, of course, she remembered _she_ was the team leader. She looked between them blankly for a few seconds before she thought of something, "Hey, guys?" Ren looked up, putting his book down. "Uhh… we should probably go around and tell what are semblances are -so we can uh… so, so we can work better as a team, you know?" _wow_ she hoped she sounded less awkward than she felt.

Jaune decided to help her out, "Sounds like a great idea. Mine's aura amplification," he said simply. He waited for that to process, more counting on Nora to do something next. So, one could imagine his shock when it was actually _Ren_ that drove the conversation forward. "What does that entail, exactly?" he asked. Ren, naturally, was curious about his two new teammates. He'd already seen Ruby's speed, but Jaune was… a bit of an enigma at the moment. All he'd _seen_ was that the man had a relatively strong grasp of his aura -likely even stronger than his own.

"Maybe it'd be better if I showed you. Ruby? Mind helping me out?" Ruby, of course, nodded. She was actually rather excited to see what his semblance would _do_. Jaune walked over to her, Ruby standing in the middle of the room. She watched as he walked around her, laying his hands on her shoulders. "Now, Ruby, I want you to focus your aura into your hands, okay?" Ruby nodded a few times, closing her eyes. Jaune smiled as he activated his semblance, sending his aura through hers. Ruby's eyes shot open as she felt the power surging through her, her hands glowing a brilliant red, turning the room into a photo development studio. Nora squinted at the light, raising an eyebrow when it turned pink.

"Huh… that… normally doesn't happen…" Jaune said, raising an eyebrow as he saw Ruby's aura glowing a bright pink -something he'd more associated with Nora's aura than hers. Ruby dimmed down the light, looking down at her hands to see the pink coating her. "Woah… this is… woah…" Ruby was at a loss for words. She'd never felt so powerful in her _life_! It felt like she could punch a deathstalker into the _moon_!... she vaguely wondered if this was how Yang felt all the time. If so, she could _totally_ understand her sister's absurd levels of confidence. How could she be scared if she felt like _this_ all the time!?

Jaune moved his hands off her, expecting Ruby's aura to return to normal… he waited… and waited… "Uhh… is it supposed to last this long?" Ruby asked, suddenly worried. The look on Jaune's face wasn't helping things. Why was her aura still glowing bright pink? Why hadn't it shifted back to its normal red yet? Jaune shook his head, about to start panicking… and then Ruby's aura faded back to normal. Ruby let out a sigh of relief, Jaune doing the same, "Oh… just took a little longer than normal. Must've amplified you a little too much," Jaune said, rubbing behind his head, a sheepish look on his face.

Ruby turned to Nora and Ren, "What are your semblances?" Ren looked at Nora, Nora looked at Ren. Then, a wide smile appeared on Nora's face. She stood, reaching into her pocket and producing a fork from seemingly nowhere. Ruby raised an eyebrow at Jaune, but Jaune just shrugged, his eyes telling her 'it's Nora'. Speaking of, the girl casually walked over to a wall outlet, sitting on the ground. Ruby's eyes widened, realizing a split second too late what Nora was about to do.

**BZZZZZZTT!**

Ruby's eyes widened as he saw electricity sparking through the outlet into the fork, flowing into Nora. Ruby could've _sworn_ she saw the girl's skeleton a few times before she, at last, pulled the fork out, her hair crackling with pink lightning. Ruby's face was pale, her eyes wide and a few faint, incomprehensible noises slipping from her dropped jaw. Nora giggled, "Now watch _this_." Nora then proceeded to casually hoist her bed in the air with one finger, said finger glowing with pink lightning. Ruby looked up, eyes wide as she saw Nora sit the bed down. She was rendered speechless, watching as Nora dropped her bed, casually hopping on top of it.

Ren walked to Ruby, laying a hand on her back. Jaune smiled as he saw the color drain from both of them, Ruby's face slowly receding into an odd neutral state… he wasn't sure how he felt about that. It was rather… _strange_ seeing her calm and not being a bubbly, sugar monkey hopping around like a hyper rabbit. When Ren pulled back, Ruby just looked up at him. "My semblance acts as camouflage from the grimm, as well as a calming agent," Ren said, walking back to his bed and opening his book again.

Jaune lightly grabbed Ruby's shoulder, shaking her from her calm stupor. She looked up, giving Jaune a little smile. "We've uh… got some weird teammates, don't we?" Ruby whispered, flicking her eyes toward the napping Nora and the reading Ren. Jaune nodded a few times… he couldn't blame her for it. Still, he couldn't help the frown that made its way onto his face, the slight glare. Those two had been -through _countless _timelines- as close as family to him. Add in Pyrrha, and there was his huntsman family. Ruby looked up, frowning and looking away, "Uh, sorry." she whispered.

Jaune shook his head, smiling and taking her hand, "You want to head to the roof? Talk in a more private place?" he asked, flashing an apologetic look at Ren. Though, Ren didn't even bother looking up. Rather he just stood, sitting on Nora's bed and reading with one hand, casually running his other over her hair. Nora -much like Ruby- seemed to enjoy it. Though -unlike Ruby who was _highly_ embarrassed by it- Nora actively pushed against Ren's hand, letting little content hums sigh as she forced her head into his lap.

Jaune and Ruby walked out the door, both sharing a smile at the scene before shutting the door. Jaune turned, taking Ruby's hand and guiding her toward the staircase. He froze at the door, turning around. He saw an empty hallway, a few people toward the end walking past. "Something wrong?" Ruby asked. Jaune slowly shook his head, turning away from the hall. Strange… felt like something was watching him. He'd almost thought it was Gamor for a moment but, he'd _just_ purified him… could he have _already_ been corrupted again? "Nothing… nothing." he shut the door behind him, walking up to the roof with Ruby in tow.

Blake Belladonna opened the door.

The cat faunus slowly made her way up the stairs, ears flicking around beneath her bow as she slowly made her way up behind the two. At every stop she froze, waiting for the two of them to keep walking before she continued stalking up the stairs. She embraced her predator nature, crouching low the ground, hands gripping the stairs, a deep purring coming from the back of her throat that she had to _try_ and fight down. When she reached the top, she slowly pulled herself up, looking out through the door. She pulled it open, listening in as best she could:

"-ever done that before?" that was Ruby.

"No," Jaune said, "that's… that's a first for me."

"Does it normally turn pink?"

"No, normally it's just white."

Blake shut the door, face _burning_ red at what she heard. Her mind instantly conjured a thousand different scenarios: the two getting it on in the forest, the two meeting in a broom closet, the two sneaking into one another's sleeping bags last night. "_Is THIS the… no, no it CAN'T be. They're both too innocent for that, right? Or… at least RUBY is._" she thought. She fearfully cracked the door open again, listening to the rest of the conversation:

"-about Nora and the light socket?" Ruby again.

"Huh… that wasn't a light socket Ruby it… it was an _outlet_. Electricity, not light."

Blake saw Ruby look away, blushing, "You know what I meant!"

"Yeah, well, that's Nora's way of introducing her semblance."

"By stabbing a fork into a light socket?"

A beat passed.

"_Electrical outlet thingy_, there." Ruby amended.

Blake raised an eyebrow… was Nora's semblance electricity absorption? That was the only thing Blake could think of that made _sense_ for why she'd be stabbing a fork into a light socket. "_Great, now she's got ME doing it…_" Blake thought, smiling at the little argument between the two. She should've guessed that Yang's younger sister would be so endearing. She listened in again as Jaune responded:

"Yeah… yeah, it is. Ren normally doesn't show his off though…"

Now _that_ was interesting. So Jaune had known Ren and Nora before? He almost talked about them as if they were old friends… though, as far as _she_ could tell, Jaune had met them around the same time Ruby had. Nora was his partner so, she _supposed_ it was possible that Nora had just told him all of this and he'd witnessed their semblances separately. Though, that seemed unlikely. Nora didn't seem the type to just _tell_ someone something. Given what she'd done to show Ruby her semblance, _that_ much was obvious. "_So he either knows them or knows of them… strange…_" she thought.

She watched the two for a bit longer, the two going back and forth, discussing the initiation, their new team, what this meant for everyone, etc. She found it odd that Jaune and Ruby were both close yet… not close. The two were close in proximity sure but, physically there didn't seem to be anything more than that. No hand holding. No kisses. No hugs. Nothing. If they really _were_ intimate like she suspected they were, there should've been _some_ of that. From the few quick glances she caught at Jaune's eyes, there wasn't even a _hint_ of lust in them. There was just a sort of kinship, comradery… trust.

"_Well, they've got THAT going on at least… could they be friends with… no, no there's NO way. Not a chance._" Blake shot down _that_ idea before it even got off the ground. _Either_ of them being in a relationship like that seemed unlikely, _especially_ with each other. Ruby was too innocent and Jaune wasn't stupid enough to get on Yang's bad side by screwing her sister in secret. "_Wait, why didn't I think of THAT first?_" from the little time she'd known Yang, she could figure out the girl was a few things.

_Absurdly _protective of Ruby.

_Extremely _effective at combat.

Absolutely _terrifying_ when combining the two above statements.

Blake wouldn't be surprised if Ruby had never even _had_ a significant other because Yang was just _that_ protective and scary. Combine that with her incredibly shy and bumbling nature, and it seemed as though Ruby would be the _last_ one to have a friend with benefits. If _anyone_ did she'd guess it'd be her sister. Jaune, on the other hand, seemed a bit more confident around people -albeit rather wary of them. He seemed… cagey, was the best word Blake could come up with on the spot. Secretive, but willing to open that secret to a select few people. It seemed unlikely at best that he'd have a friend with benefits. That it'd be Ruby? Practically impossible.

"BOO!"

"GAH!" Blake straightened, looking down to see a familiar pair of hands on her hips. She turned around, glaring at the smirking blonde. Yang let go, leaning back against the wall as Blake nearly went to slap her… then she remembered who it was and _wisely_ decided not to do that. "Hey scaredy cat, spying on someone?" she asked, walking past her and looking out the small window to the door. Her eyes widened a bit, a small smirk on her face as she saw her sister and Jaune talking. She crouched down, holding up one finger to Blake. Blake raised an eyebrow as Yang opened the door slightly, joining her in eavesdropping.

"-socket, outlet, who cares!?" that was Ruby.

"They're _very_ different! You don't plug your scroll charger into a _light_ socket!"

"WHATEVER! I… uhh, Jaune? Whahahaaaaaa…"

Blake and Yang watched as Ruby's face paled, her eyes widening and mouth dropping as she pointed to something behind Jaune. Jaune turned, eyes widening as he saw something Yang and Blake couldn't. "GET BEHIND ME!" Jaune shouted, crossing his arms before a large shockwave sent them out of view. Yang and Blake took one look at each other before dashing outside, looking around… only to see nothing. Jaune was standing still a few feet away, his feet having drug through the concrete, his arms crossed as an aura shield was formed over them. Ruby was ducked behind him, eyes still gazing at something apparently only the two of them could see.

"YANG! RUN!" Ruby yelled. Yang raised an eyebrow at her, about to yell at her when she felt the wind knocked from her. She felt the hard impact as she was thrown into the nearby wall, a shower of concrete over her. Blake's eyes widened as she Yang fly away from seemingly nothing. She turned, only to feel a tight pressure on her waist. Her eyes widened as she was lifted into the air. She started slamming her hands against whatever it was, feeling them thudding against what felt like something hard.

"What is that thing!? What do we do!?" Ruby asked, shaking Jaune's arm. What _she_ saw was a large, dark creature with tendrils flying from its hands, one of those tendrils wrapped around Blake's waist. Jaune grit his teeth as he stood upright, holding out his hand. He focused, miming grabbing a string with his other hand, pulling it back as his aura created the bow and arrow. He released it, the arrow splitting into three. The beast roared and reeled back, leaving two tendrils behind. Blake's eyes widened, able to see the beast's tendrils now that they were no longer attached to the creature.

Jaune fired again, sending another volley at the creature. It was shockingly fast for its large size, dodging the arrows before dashing toward them. Jaune grit his teeth… he didn't have many options if he wanted to keep everyone alive. He focused, taking a few breaths. In. Out. In. Out. As his breathing slowed, his eyes started glowing a faint white, time itself seeming to slow. Yet while time slowed, _he_ remained exactly the same. He dashed around the creature a few times before jumping up, gathering his aura before slamming his hand into the beast's chest. Time resumed as the beast was practically _disintegrated_, the force he'd built up by running around coming full circle combining with his aura to create a _massive_ pulse.

He fell to the ground, staggering a bit before taking a few breaths. "Maybe a bit overkill…" he muttered, feeling something soft on his shoulder. He turned, seeing Ruby frowning down at him, eyes flicking over his body, concern clear in her expression. He just gave her a smile, holding a weak thumbs up before standing, staggering a bit. Ruby dashed ahead, wrapping an arm around him, letting him lean on her as she made her way to Blake. Blake just looked between the two, then down to the now disappearing tendrils. "Wha… what?" Blake was speechless.

Jaune shrugged, "Some kind of grimm I guess… not sure how it got so close to Beacon. Could you two not see it?" he gestured to Yang -whom he guessed was unconscious at this point. Blake shook her head… she hadn't _seen_ anything besides him creating arrows, tendrils falling from nowhere, and him suddenly acting like _Ruby_ and dashing around at speeds her eyes couldn't perceive. "You… what and _how_ did you… what just happened?" Blake asked, trying to get her words to come out straight.

Jaune smiled, "My semblance is time dilation, lets me slow down, speed up, or even _stop_ time if I focus hard enough." Blake slowly nodded… was _that_ the secret he was telling Ruby about? If that was the case, what were they talking about before? Was it something she'd just heard completely out of context or… was she right the first time? She would've asked more questions, but a small groan interrupted her. The three turned, all walking toward Yang as she slowly stood, shaking the concrete off her.

"Owww… who threw a truck at me?" she asked, looking at the three. She saw Ruby supporting Jaune, saw Blake's wide-eyed expression, saw the last remnants of smoke flying up from nearby. She stood, leaning back and cracking her back, "Did you guys kill an invisible grimm without me?" Blake, Ruby, and Jaune all looked at each other before they nodded. It was more or _less_ what happened. After all, the only one that knew it _wasn't_ a grimm was Jaune himself, and he had _no_ intention of telling anyone… barring Ruby but, he needed privacy for that.

Yang grabbed Blake's arm, smiling at her sister, "Well, thanks for not letting us die. We'll give you two some privacy, but remember what I said Arcy." her eyes flashed red, her face set in a glare before she effectively drug Blake into the stairwell, dragging her toward their room. Yang just smiled… she had a feeling it was going to be a fun year.

Meanwhile, Ruby looked up at Jaune, "That wasn't a grimm… was it?" she asked. Jaune, of course, just shook his head. He grunted as he guided the two over to a nearby part of the concrete building, both sliding down onto the ground. Ruby shifted her arm to be around Jaune's neck, still worried. Jaune didn't do a thing as he looked ahead, a frown on his face. "I call them 'time squids'... yeah yeah, not original, I know. Only people that have time traveled at _least_ once can see them. They come after people when they smell like time travel… probably came looking for me when I froze time to get you home and finally caught up with us." he muttered, both worried and relieved.

On one hand, he'd been able to kill the time squid with little effort, and had managed to come up with a semi-believable excuse as for _how_ he did it. On the other, it made him realized that these things wouldn't _just_ be after him anymore, but Ruby as well. Of course, given they were on the same team he wasn't _too_ worried about her being ambushed by one, but still, that was going to be an issue. _Especially_ if a grick like Gamor were to come looking for her. He wasn't sure how good her super speed _was_, but she was fairly certain she couldn't kill something on a different plane of time than her.

"So… where did that thing _come_ from?" Ruby asked. If it wasn't a grimm then… where had it come from? _What_ had it come from? Was that just a baby and there was a mommy giant squid monster looking for them now? That would be even _worse_. Though, Jaune just shrugged, "No one knows… well, not really. They come from derelict timelines but, I'm not sure _why_ they form. No one really is." Jaune said, making sure his voice could be muffled by the wind. After the little Blake and Yang scare, he was _not_ keen on anyone else listening in.

Ruby nodded a few times, holding up a hand and yawning. "Tired?" Jaune asked. When Ruby nodded, he wasn't surprised in the slightest. After all, she'd spent the day running around in the Emerald forest, clinging to a deathstalker, and running up the side of a cliff to decapitate a nevermore. He perfectly understood her being tired. Jaune just smiled as Ruby laid her head on his shoulder, lightly rubbing against it. "Let's try and get inside before you go to sleep, okay?" he said. Ruby just nodded, groaning as she forced herself to sit up. She wanted nothing more than to just fall down and sleep until tomorrow.

Now Jaune was the one supporting Ruby, keeping her from falling down the stairs as the two made their way down. Jaune opened the door to their room, smiling as he saw Nora sleeping in Ren's lap, Ren still casually reading his book. Jaune shut the door as Ruby staggered over to her bed, about to just crawl in and fall asleep when she felt her outfit against her skin. She let out a small whimper as she walked into the bathroom, locking the door and stripping off her clothes. "She didn't bring anything to change into, did she?" Ren said.

Ruby stuck her head out, "Uh, Jaune? Could you hand me my bag?" she asked, her face tinted pink, body covered by the door and her cloak. Jaune just nodded, reaching down and grabbing what he _guessed_ was the bag she meant. She grabbed it, shutting the door and pulling out the first thing she felt, laying her cloak back and slipping into whatever it was. The second she walked out, Jaune had to force himself to look normal, letting only a small smile slip. Ruby was clad in what looked to be a beowolf onesie, zipped up to her neck with the teeth around the hood just the same.

Ruby walked to her bed, letting herself flop down on top of it. Jaune looked at her for a few seconds before he took his own change of clothes into the bathroom, slipping into his normal sleepwear. When he walked out, he saw Ruby standing there, her face burning red. "Just realized you were wearing a beowolf onesie?" Ruby nodded furiously, pouting slightly at Jaune's smiling face. Why did she even _have_ this!? She hadn't worn it in _years_… well, really _days_ but, her team didn't need to know that. Jaune just wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her head beneath her hood. "Why are you changing? It's not like we all didn't see you in this," he said.

Ruby glared at him before she just sighed, letting him lead her back to her bed. She flopped down on her bed, shutting her eyes as Jaune casually tucked her in, Ruby pulling the blanket up to her nose, much like she did the first time around. Jaune barely thought as he took a picture of her, smiling at the image. He sat down, making sure to _lock_ his scroll this time before he plugged it in (purely for appearances, his time machine's battery ran off the aura of whoever was holding it) before pulling his own sheets up. He closed his eyes, letting his mind drift.

Across the hall, things were a bit less calm. Pyrrha and Weiss were asleep, certainly, but a certain dark-haired faunus and her blonde partner were _far_ from asleep. Both were sitting on respective beds, clad in their sleepwear, discussing what had occurred a few minutes ago. "Could you not see the thing that knocked me down?" Yang asked. Blake shook her head. The only thing she _had_ seen was those tendrils when Jaune assumingly shot them off with his aura arrows. Other than that, it was just an invisible creature as far as she was aware. She'd have thought it was nothing at all if not for the damage both she _and_ Yang had taken in the process. "No… but Jaune and Ruby both could. I don't understand why…" Blake was at a loss on that one. She'd almost ruled out the possibility of jaune being an infiltrator, but there was still definitely _something_ wrong with him.

Yang just shrugged, "Maybe one of Jaune's weird aura tricks that he shared with Ruby? 'Seeing the unseen' or something like that?" she was grasping at straws here. Truth be told, she had _no_ clue why they could see it while Blake couldn't. She couldn't just write them off as hallucinations either, given she'd _felt_ the effect of it on her back. So… what was it? Some kind of invisible grimm that only Jaune and Ruby could see? Blake nodded… it made as much sense as any of the theories _she_ could come up with anyway. "Maybe we should sleep on it? Hope one of us has a better idea tomorrow?" Yang suggested. Blake just nodded… sleep didn't sound like such a bad idea after what just happened.

Yang laid down in her bed, Blake laying down in hers. Even as Yang went to sleep (at least, Blake assumed she did) she couldn't help but lay there, wide awake, wondering. Why? Why had she been able to see the grimm only _after_ it was severed from the main part of it? Why could Jaune and Ruby see it at _all_? What was with that conversation from before it showed up? What was the two's relationship? All those questions circled through her mind, keeping her in a strange state of exhausted curiosity.

"_Forget it._" Blake thought, grabbing her scroll. She opened it to her web browsing function, scrolling through to try and find something, _anything_ about invisible grimm. She browsed through a few sites, a few different sources telling her different things, accounts of grimm invisible to the naked eye. Yet, none of them really _fit_ the modus operandi of what she'd seen. No tendrils, no absurd strength, no being visible to a select few, no _anything_ of the sort. She kept going, not even realizing that a pair of lilac eyes were gazing at her. Yang slowly rose, standing up and walking around behind Blake.

"Ah!" Blake yelped as Yang jumped behind her, wrapping her arms around Blake's waist. Blake looked back, glaring at her as Yang smirked up at her, her chest pressing into the girl's back. "Should pay more attention Blakie," Yang said, moving up so that her head was right next to Blake's. Blake powered off her scroll, plugging it back up before she turned around, about to berate Yang… only to be greeted with eyelids. She heard a faint snoring Yang leaned in closer, pulling Blake's head under her chin. "Yang… Yang, wake up… Yang… forget it…" Blake muttered, leaning against her warmer partner.

She yelped as she felt Yang suddenly pulled her on top of her, lilac eyes winking up at her, a smirk on her face. "Gotcha Blakie." Blake glared at her partner. She probably should have seen that coming, in hindsight. After all, it _was_ Yang, queen of pranks, queen of bad puns, etc. etc. Yang gave her best imitation of Ruby's pout as she saw Blake glaring at her, "Aww… don't be like that, I mean I _did_ just give you the two best pillows in Remnant," she said, pulling Blake down toward her bust. Blake's face went bright red as she pulled back, taking the cover with her like a cloak as she crouched on the edge of the bed.

Yang smirked, "Are you a frog faunus? 'Cause you're a jumpy little Blake." Blake glared even harder for that one, mostly to disguise the familiar spike of panic at someone hinting at her faunus nature. Not that Yang was even _close_ to figuring it out, but still. Yang stood, patting Blake's shoulder before walking back to her bed, flopping down on it and pulling the covers vaguely over her. Blake looked at her for a few seconds before she sighed, letting herself fall to the bed, in a cloak of covers, her mind drifting back into darkness when she heard Yang snoring.

"_I would get her as my partner, wouldn't I?_"


	8. Day One: Part Uno

"Daddy, please… help… me…"

"LET HER GO! DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Jaune shouted, his aura surrounding him in a furious white cloud as he glared at the pale woman. The woman with the skin whiter than his aura, with the dark veins running along her face. He saw her holding the little girl, one that couldn't be older than ten, by the throat with her bloody hand. Salem smirked at him, her eyes flashing as she slowly walked toward the edge. Jaune's eyes widened as he dashed toward her. Immortality be damned, she would _not_ hurt her! He was just a few feet away when Salem reached the edge, holding the little girl out over the dark pit over a hundred feet below.

His eyes widened as he saw the little girl -his little beowolf- glowing a brilliant white, some of it leaving Salem. Then… she let go. She stepped aside, letting him look down, eyes wide as he saw her falling. He saw her wounds repairing themselves, saw her eyes widening as she screamed. Yet all he could do was watch helplessly, watch as his daughter fell into the pit. He saw the flashing from beneath, saw the sporadic movement from below. "No… you… you didn't…" he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned, eyes wide as he saw Salem smirking at him, "I did. She's _mine_," she said, her teeth almost all showing as she stepped back, walking toward the remnants of her castle. It didn't matter -she _got_ what she wanted. Jaune, meanwhile, was left to turn and look down, tears falling down his face as he saw a pure white hand rise from the lake, a head of white hair and white skin slowly rising from the depths of the lake. "_No… not you too… no… no…_" Jaune barely thought as he stood, standing on the edge.

Without so much as a word, he let himself fall.

…

Jaune woke up frozen.

He was strange like that. After particularly powerful nightmares, he didn't wake up shouting or in pain. He woke up paralyzed. Paralyzed in fear until his mind registered that what happened had either happened a long time ago or in a time long ahead, and would _never_ happen… still didn't get rid of the memories or nightmares though. "Jaune?" Jaune slowly turned his head, and for a moment he forgot himself. Forgot where he was. Forgot who Ruby was. He saw a girl in a beowolf onesie… he saw his little beowolf.

"Woah! Okay uh… there-there, Jaune I… I'm here…" Ruby said, understandably weirded out by Jaune suddenly wrapping his arms around her and pulling her next to him. She slowly looked up, frowning as she saw the tears running down his face, heard the incoherent apologies he was muttering beneath his breath. She wrapped her arms back around him, nuzzling into his shoulder, whispering comforting words to _try_ and help him.

It was cold comfort to Jaune, realizing after a few seconds that it was, in fact, Ruby Rose in his arms. He pulled back, looking down at her. "Sorry, Ruby… forgot when I was for a second…" he whispered, looking away from her. He felt a hand on his cheek, Ruby's thumb wiping away a few of the tears that still lingered. He turned back to see Ruby's smiling little face. She leaned against him, nuzzling against him slightly to only show the beowolf hood of the onesie. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

Jaune just sighed, a spark of pain flashing over his face as he looked down at the little beowolf hood. "I… no, it's okay. Just… another thing that will never happen… a girl that will never be born… my little beowolf…" Jaune trailed off, his eyes a million miles and twenty years away. Ruby frowned up at him, pulling her hood back and leaning against his shoulder. Jaune leaned down slightly, his chin lightly pressing into Ruby's head. They stayed like that for a bit, Jaune unable to stop the memories coming to him. He made no noise, silent tears falling down his face to the pillow.

Ruby leaned back, frowning up at him, "I… could be your little beowolf if it helps…" Ruby said, giving a little smile as she pulled her hood back up. Jaune gave a little chuckle, smiling at Ruby. He ruffled her hair beneath her hood before he moved around, the two sitting up. "I… I appreciate your concern Ruby but, no. It's… I hope you'll never find out. Hope you'll never understand…" Ruby's eyes widened… put it down to post wake-up grogginess but, she hadn't _really_ connected the dots until just then.

"I already do, Jaune. What it's like to lose someone…" Ruby reached up, lightly tapping the little rose emblem sewn onto her chest… her mother's last gift to her, her father would always say. Jaune frowned at her, leaning over slightly. His eyes asked all the questions Ruby would've in his shoes. "My mom… I was little but, I remember growing up without her. It… it's hard, some days…" Jaune didn't realize he'd wrapped his arms around Ruby, his instincts _refusing_ to let him see the girl upset. Ruby smiled as she leaned against him, a small part of her mind smirking. It was the way she'd _always_ cheer her dad or sister up -get them to focus on _her_ sadness instead of theirs. Once more, it worked _just_ as planned.

After a few minutes, Jaune leaned back, looking down at Ruby. Ruby just smiled up at him, a glint in her eyes. Jaune blinked a few times, "You just tricked me into feeling better, didn't you?" Ruby just nodded. Jaune should've known the trick. He _did_ have seven sisters, some of whom were younger than him, after all. They'd pulled the same trick on him -hell he'd _done_ the trick to his older siblings once or twice. Though, in Ruby's case, it seemed less malicious, more to turn his focus away from his sadness than anything else. Jaune sighed, slowly shaking his head as he stood, Ruby's eyes following him and he gathered his clothes for the day.

"You want to take a shower first or should I?" Jaune asked, looking down at Ruby. Ruby just gestured to him. Jaune nodded, grabbing his scroll before walking into the bathroom, locking the door the same way he normally would. Ruby, meanwhile, just sat on his bed, looking toward the door. Her face tinted pink as she envisioned him stripping off his shirt, her opening the door and seeing him facing away from her… "_AH! BAD NAUGHTY THOUGHTS! BAD NAUGHTY THOUGHTS! SHOO! SHOO! GO AWAY!_" Ruby nearly shouted at herself, pulling her hood down over her head as she tried to force the thoughts out of her head.

"Ruby?" the girl in question looked up, eyes widening a bit as she saw Ren slowly pulling himself up against the back of the bed. She raised an eyebrow… then her eyes trailed down, seeing Nora laid out over his lap, still fast asleep. She looked back up… he looked like he'd just asked her a question. Had she zoned out? Not heard it? What was it… "Uh, yeah?" Ruby _really_ hoped the question was a yes or a no kind of question. She _really_ didn't want to be agreeing to something when she had no clue what it was… then again, she'd sooner think Nora or her sister would do that than Ren.

Ren looked around for a moment before smiling down at Nora, gently rubbing her head. She rubbed against his belly in a way that was _far_ too familiar for Ruby's liking. After all, it was the way _she'd_ rub against her people's bellies when she was younger (and secretly still would if someone rubbed her head enough). "Is there a reason you're up at seven o'clock?" he figured _that_ was an obvious question to ask. Sure _he'd_ planned on waking up early to placate Nora's desire of breakfast but, why was Ruby awake? Ruby, of course, nodded a few times, "Oh yeah, Jaune… uh, he uh…" she trailed off, suddenly realizing he _might_ not want her telling Ren about his nightmares. Did they count as information about time travel that was strictly on a 'don't talk about with anyone besides Jaune' basis?

Ruby was spared having to answer by Jaune walking out of the bathroom, clad in his uniform. Ruby looked over at him for a second before she turned back to Ren, "Uhh… do you or Nora-" "No." Ren didn't let Ruby finish. Ruby just nodded, gathering her things as fast as she could before scampering into the bathroom to take her shower. Jaune, meanwhile, just sat on his bed, looking through his scroll for a moment. Ren looked at him for a few seconds before he coughed, getting Jaune to look up at him. "Is there a reason you and Ruby woke up so early?" he asked.

Jaune shrugged, "Not really sure. I woke up and, Ruby was awake… I don't think there was much of a _reason_ for it," he said. He _really_ needed to talk with Ruby and make sure their stories matched… then he realized something. Something he _really_ should've realized the other night. He turned to Ren, "Hey, Ren, you know that thing I did with Ruby's aura?" Ren just nodded. Outside he held the same neutral look he almost always did, though inside he _was_ rather curious where his blonde teammate was going with this.

Jaune frowned, "Well… that's not _exactly_ my semblance. It's uh… well, that's just my aura. My semblance is uh… a lot harder to explain." Jaune realized _very_ quickly the problem that would arise. He'd told Blake his semblance was time dilation (which would _really_ help to explain some of his time travel fighting styles) yet he'd told Ren and Nora what his semblance actually _was_ out of habit. Rather than ask, Ren just nodded. He could tell the Arc either didn't _want_ to talk about it, or wasn't _ready_ to talk about it at the moment. Ren would wait, he had four years, after all.

As soon as Ruby got out, Ren went in, leaving the sleeping Nora still in bed. Jaune immediately sat next to Ruby, eyes telling her he needed to talk. Ruby just motioned for him to go ahead. "Ruby, I don't want you telling anyone about my nightmares, okay? I know Ren was asking about this morning just… just tell him you'd planned on all of us going to breakfast together, okay?" he asked. Ruby nodded a few times, smiling up at him. _That_ was something she could get behind… mostly because that's _kind of_ what she'd planned on doing regardless had Jaune not woken up from a nightmare earlier.

Ruby pouted as she looked towards her bag… her whistle would have to wait until tomorrow. She'd blow it to wake up Nora but… _NO_. _NO_. Just… _NO_. That would be like wrapping onto Yang's hair to try and climb her: a very, _very_ bad plan that would end in some kind of injury or a structure being utterly _destroyed_. So, Ruby just waited, her and Jaune sitting in companionable silence as Ruby looked up, eyes trailing along his face. It was… strange, to her. Knowing that she was the leader of someone older, more experienced, _and_ much stronger than she was.

"_It's weird… but, a good kind of weird. Not like that time Yang shoved a bunch of slugs and worms in my underwear -now THAT was a bad weird- but… like when Uncle Qrow showed up sober to my tenth birthday party. Yeah, yeah THAT kind of weird… the good kind…_" Ruby hadn't realized in her reminiscing that Jaune had turned to look at her, and she hadn't bothered to look away from him, a little smile on her face. Jaune reached forward, lightly tapping Ruby's forehead a few times. "Mall's open… is anyone shopping?" he asked, smiling at her. Ruby blinked a few times before she glared at him, going to bite his finger. Of course, Jaune was fast enough to pull away.

Ruby glared at him harder -though that glare was rather off-put by her smile. Jaune kept his hand away from her for a moment, "I see the pet store's got someone… got a feisty little doggy in there, don't you?" he said, ruffling her hair once again. Ruby looked up at him, giggling as she barked a few times, lolled her tongue out and curled her hands into paws. Jaune joined her in laughing, taking his hand away and looking back toward the still slumbering Nora. Ruby joined him after a second, both gazing at her. "So… uhh, who's going to wake her up?" Ruby asked.

Jaune looked at her, "You're team leader…" Ruby frowned at him… he _would_ try and use her title against her, wouldn't he? Then again, what else did she expect? So, as team leader, Ruby would do what, in her mind, was the right thing. Nora needed to wake up and take a shower after Ren got out (which, based on the sounds, would happen in about thirty seconds). So, she made the executive choice…

To make Ren do it instead.

When Ren got out, of course, the _first_ thing he did was throw the blankets off of Nora. Nora groaned as she turned around, her shirt riding up a bit to expose her belly. Ren rolled his eyes as he saw Nora's little smile. He knew what she wanted, of course. Didn't mean he had to _give_ it to her though. He motioned Ruby toward him, holding up a finger to keep her quiet. Ruby raised an eyebrow, slowly walking toward him. He walked to the other side, whispering in her ear. As he whispered, Ruby's face only got more and more red. Though, a small smile grew as she looked up at him, giving a thumbs up.

Jaune watched, raising an eyebrow as Ruby crouched down next to the bed, looking up at Ren as he laid his hands just a bit beneath Nora's arms. Jaune slowly stood, raising an eyebrow as Ruby blew a raspberry into Nora's belly, the girl's eyes opening with a giggle. They widened a bit as they saw Ren, saw him grab her shoulders, hoisting her up to his height, leaving Ruby next to the bed and Nora with a wet belly. Jaune fought down a laugh, Ruby giggling as Ren just smiled. Nora looked down, pouting at Ren, "Really? No pat-pats?" she asked. Ren shook his head, letting her down and gesturing around the room, pointing out that literally _everyone_ was ready barring her.

Nora sighed, grabbing her clothes before walking into the bathroom. Jaune looked between Ruby and Ren for a moment… then he decided not to question it. He had a _fairly_ good idea of what just happened and… yeah, he was fine not knowing the details. Ruby laid back on her bed, looking over toward Jaune before turning back to Ren… then back to Jaune… she did that a few times before at last, she let out a faint 'ow', rubbing her neck. Jaune and Ren shared a smile before looking back at Ruby, the three sharing a peaceful morning as Nora took a shower.

The same could _not_ be said across the hall.

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Weiss yelled, a towel pressed against her as she leaned back against the shower door. Meanwhile, Pyrrha and Blake were both trying to hold back a _very_ mad Yang, eyes red and steam practically flying off her. The reason she was so mad? Weiss had accidentally used Yang's hairbrush. To her credit, the only difference between them was that one had her name printed on the handle, while Yang's was blank. Weiss, being tired when she brushed her hair, had simply seen the brush and determined it was hers… then Yang walked in and read the name.

"Yang! Weiss didn't mean -_anything_\- by it!" Pyrrha said, struggling to keep her teammate in check. Blake, meanwhile, was trying literally _every_ technique she knew to knock her partner unconscious… that being said, when _most_ of those techniques relied on attacking the back of a target's neck? She was _not_ risking touching Yang's hair. Weiss, meanwhile, was fearing for her life at the furious blonde. It was a _hairbrush_! Why was it that big of a deal!?

Of course, Weiss had _no_ idea the near-religious fervor Yang felt toward her hair and anything related to it. Weiss using her hairbrush was _blasphemy_, and she'd _burn_ for this! Well… burn via her semblance anyway. She knew she couldn't _kill_ Weiss, but _damn_ if she wouldn't make her hurt! Blake, realizing that her techniques of simply prodding the girl's belly, legs and chest were getting her _nowhere_, she really didn't have any options. She dashed out the door, legs burning as she made a beeline for the locker room. She was there in a minute, using her clones to propel herself forward faster than she had even during initiation.

She grabbed Gambol Shroud before using the same technique to dash back upstairs, suddenly glad she was still in her yukata. When she, at last, flew into the room, she saw Pyrrha had made _some_ ground, pushing Yang back to the bathroom doorway. "PYRRHA! HUG YANG!" Pyrrha complied without thinking, wrapping her arms around the brawler. Blake reacted fast, throwing Gambol Shroud and tossing it behind Pyrrha. The amazon-esque warrior realized what Blake was doing, and focused, sending Gambol Shroud around her and Yang a few times with her semblance before tossing it back to Blake.

Blake held the end, tying it through the line to make it harder for Yang to break. "There… are we okay now?" Blake said. Pyrrha thanked her lucky stars that she was taller than Yang, able to simply carry the blonde back to her bed, Yang still practically frothing at the mouth toward Weiss. Pyrrha, meanwhile, felt her face run red as Yang looked toward her, just a few inches from her face. "Yang… Yang what're -MEEP!" Pyrrha let out a loud, adorable yelp as Yang leaned against her, panting slightly from her enraged struggle against Pyrrha.

Blake couldn't help but chuckle at that, both women looking at her. "What? Don't pretend Yang, you thought that was cute too," Blake said. Yang just nodded. She wouldn't deny it… reminded her a lot of Ruby actually. Yang turned back, Pyrrha leaning back as much as she could from Yang. That being said, when the reason they were bound was that she'd been _hugging_ Yang to her… well, there wasn't _that_ much room. Yang smirked at Pyrrha, "What's the matter P? Feeling a little 'heated' under the ribbon? Eh? Eh?" Yang said, immediately flaring up her semblance again. The two women listening had _very_ different reactions: Blake groaned, thinking it was a stupid pun.

Pyrrha nearly _passed out_.

She was _not_ used to having someone that wasn't related to her _this_ close to her. She was barely comfortable having her _mother_ this close! Let _alone_ someone she met two days ago! Yet… for all its faults, Blake's plan seemed to be working. Yang was calming down, focusing on Pyrrha's embarrassment rather than Weiss's great sin against her hair. The three sat there a minute, all recovering from what had just happened at rather different rates. Yang, being who she was, was back cracking jokes in just a few minutes. Blake recovered a bit after. Pyrrha… well, she wouldn't even _start_ to recover until she wasn't bound literally _an inch_ from Yang.

**KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK-KNOCK KNOCK!... KNOCK! KNOCK!**

"It's open Ruby!" Yang said, recognizing the familiar knock her sister would almost always use. Ruby pushed open the door, her _and_ her team both walking through the door. Ren took one look inside before grabbing Nora, immediately pulling her out the door and closing it. The _last_ thing he needed was to give Nora any 'ideas' for him, Ruby or Jaune she might use later. Jaune, meanwhile, just looked between the three -understandably _very_ confused. Ruby, on the other hand, just frowned at Yang.

"Someone use your hairbrush?"

"Yep." Yang said, popping the 'P'.

"Weiss?"

"Yep."

"Blake tied you to Pyrrha so you wouldn't hurt Weiss and now you're making Pyrrha _really_ uncomfortable by flirting with her when you're just a few inches away from her?"

"Not _flirting_… not _yet_."

Yang immediately turned to Pyrrha, a smirk on her face. Pyrrha didn't even sit up long enough to hear it. Rather, she just immediately passed out at Yang's look, laying back on the bed. Yang blinked a few times before looking up at Blake. "Huh… I've heard about putting an audience to sleep but this is ridiculous… eh? Eh?" Yang immediately felt a pillow slammed against her face, her partner shaking her head, Ruby groaning. Yang frowned, and would've scratched her chin if her hands weren't stuck at her sides.

"Okaaay… oh! I got another one! Looks like I got myself a-"

"Captive audience?" Jaune interrupted, giving her an unimpressed glare. Ruby giggled at her sister's nearly heartbroken expression, even Blake giving a small smile at her partner's expense. After a second she glared at him… then she just smiled. "That predictable huh?" she asked. Jaune just nodded. She was tied up to Pyrrha… the joke practically wrote _itself_. The blonds were interrupted as the bathroom door opened, Weiss walking out. She walked around to Yang, laying down the woman's hairbrush. "There, Yang. I cleaned off even a _trace_ of my hair from it. I'm sorry," she said.

It sounded cold but, ironically it was one of the more genuine apologies Jaune had heard the white-haired lady give in his time(s). Yang slowly looked up from the brush to Weiss, her expression unreadable. After a second she smiled… "You can't tell, but I'm motioning for you to come closer," she explained. Weiss nodded, slowly leaning toward her. She was a bit wary of course -Yang _had_ just been on the warpath against her… what? A few minutes ago? She got closer… closer… the two were an inch apart.

**BONK!**

"OW!" Weiss nearly shouted, feeling Yang headbutt her, the girl in question whooping in laughter. Blake and Jaune got small chuckles out of it, Ruby going into what could only be described as a laughing _fit_. It got to the point Jaune had to lean down and catch her to keep her from falling. Weiss, meanwhile, just sat back, rubbing her now red forehead. After a minute she just sighed, "Blake, untie them… I'm guessing Pyrrha wasn't exactly _comfortable_ about this whole thing," she said. Blake nodded, casting a sympathetic glance at Pyrrha. The poor girl was just trying to help… even _Yang_ felt bad about it, despite the amount of material it gave her to use.

Weiss turned to Ruby and Jaune, "Why are you here anyway?" she asked, her eyes directed at Jaune. It was quite clear to Jaune what she was doing. Ruby might have been the leader, but it was _pretty clear_ who Weiss thought of as more worthy of leading the team… that said a _lot_ given it was him.

Jaune, giving a faint glare at Weiss, deferred to Ruby. "We were wondering if you girls wanted to come to breakfast with us but uh… it looks like you've got your hands full," Ruby said, gesturing to the unconscious Pyrrha and the fact only Weiss and Pyrrha were in their uniforms. Blake and Yang were still in their sleepwear. Not to _mention_ how long it would take Yang to fix her hair.

Weiss shook her head, "We'll meet you there when we're ready, go ahead." Weiss gestured for them to get going. Jaune glared at her again before taking Ruby's wrist, practically dragging her out and shutting the door behind him. Ruby raised an eyebrow… what was his deal? Had Weiss done something in the past that made him constantly angry at her? Jaune noticed, sighing, "You didn't notice that she was talking to _me_ and refusing to look at you?" he asked. Ruby just shook her head… _she_ just figured Jaune was going to answer anyway.

Jaune just sighed, a small smile on his face, "So innocent…" he muttered, quiet enough even Ruby couldn't hear him. Ren and Nora started following as Jaune let go, letting Ruby go ahead of him. She looked back, smiling as she saw her team… her team. She stood a bit taller, puffed out her chest a bit more as she pointed ahead. "Alright team RNJR!" she said.

"To delicious victory!"

…

"Wait… where's the cafeteria again?"

Jaune couldn't help but chuckle… they'd walked _ten feet_… _ten, feet_, before Ruby realized she had no clue where she was going. "It's the building next to ours. Walk down the stairwell and then across the courtyard, you can't miss it," Ren said. Jaune nodded a few times, Ruby and him walking side by side down the stairwell. As soon as they walked outside, Jaune noticed them. He didn't bother saying anything, not looking at them. He could see the faint trails of smoke, see the group of four gathered around a corner, out of plain view from anyone who wasn't actively searching for people like he was.

Team CRDL, on the other hand, seemed to have _very_ different plans for them. All four stood, Cardin himself tossing his cigarette to the ground, snuffing it out with his boot. The four weren't wearing their school uniforms, but rather their combat gear -given they had sparring class first. Jaune made it as subtle as he could, gazing at them. He could take them, of course, that wasn't the issue. He wasn't looking to draw any more attention to himself. He needed to let the 'heat' die down a bit first, give himself time to regain his anonymity.

Though, Cardin Winchester seemed to have other plans. He whistled, drawing the eyes of Ruby, Nora, and Ren to them. He smirked, walking toward them, "Hey! Team uh… Runners, right?" he asked. Jaune knew where this was going. Ruby, on the other hand, didn't have his years of experience to tell. Ruby politely corrected them on the name, Nora nodding. Ren, on the other hand, was a bit more like Jaune. Not as aware of who they were, but a bit warier than his female teammates. Cardin raised an eyebrow, looking back at his teammates. "Was it Ranger? Could've sworn they said 'runner'," Jaune would give him credit, Cardin was a good actor if nothing else.

His team affirmed it was runners. Cardin turned, walking up to Ruby specifically. He leaned down, "Well… let's see which one it is." Jaune stepped in front of Ruby, grabbing Cardin's fist before it could connect with Ruby's face. He glared at him, Cardin's eyes widening a bit. Then… he smiled. He… just smiled. He stepped back, nodding a few times. "Yeah… yeah, you're not a runner," at that Cardin just nodded to his group, the four of them walking away. Jaune looked after them, watching them turn the corner, joking amongst themselves.

"Uhh… what just happened?" Ruby asked, leaning out from behind Jaune. Jaune just sighed, running a hand over his hair… how was he going to explain this when Ren and Nora were _literally_ right behind him? "I know their type… the only thing they understand is strength. If you can show you're strong, they'll accept you. If you're weak… well, we'll probably see soon enough," Jaune said, glaring as they entered the cafeteria. He had a feeling where they were going… or rather _who_ they were going to see.

The four walked ahead, a bit more on edge after the strange encounter. When they turned in… shockingly, all Jaune saw was the four getting breakfast, despite the _many_ faunus around them. He walked into line a few paces behind them, eyes on them as he waited… and waited… "_Are they not being assholes for once? Something's off…_" he thought, watching as the group sat down. He took his breakfast, heading off to where he would normally sit. He sat on the edge, Ruby next to him with Ren next to her, Nora on the far side with Ren.

He looked up, eyes widening a bit as he saw team CRDL picking up their things, walking toward them. Ren looked toward him as well, lightly gripping the plastic knife he'd been given with the tray. Ruby leaned back a bit, lacking her usual energy. Nora, on the other hand, seemed _eager_ if anything. Eager for a brawl, eager for a fight, eager to break some legs more than likely. Though… none of that happened. "Mind if we sit here uh… Jaune, I think? That right?" Jaune looked at Ruby, deferring to her. Ruby just agreed, admittedly somewhat afraid what would happen if she said no.

Cardin nodded a few times, sitting across from Jaune, Russel next to him, all of them sitting in the order of their team name. Everyone ate in relative silence, Ren prodding Nora into a conversation about the dream she'd had the other day. Jaune was… surprised, to say the least. He'd been through _countless_ encounters with team CRDL and… they were _never_ this friendly. What had changed? Was it different team makeup? Was it Ruby getting in early so now they apparently had a differing target? Why did Cardin seemingly respect him now?

"You're the leader of your team, right Ruby?" Russel asked, giving a faint smile at her. Ruby returned it, nodding a few times. Russel nodded, turning his head to Nora as the girl jumped up, slamming a hand into the table, regaling the other team with tales of her (completely imaginary) grandeur, with Ren adding in _ever_ so helpful details here and there. "Surprised it isn't you, Jaune," Cardin said, causing Jaune to turn his head back to him. Jaune could _kind of_ understand where Cardin was coming from. After all, he _was_ the one that stepped forward and stopped him from hitting Ruby. In Cardin's eyes, odds were _he_ was the strong one of the group, and that gave him the right to be the leader.

"Yeah, well, Ruby's the one that comes up with the plans. I just uh… well, I advise from time to time," Jaune replied. Could he have easily been leader? Yes. Could he come up with plans in the middle of a battle? Yes. Had he been a leader before? _Hell_ yes. _Many_, _many_ times he'd been in that position. Of course, it helped that he usually had rather skilled teammates (i.e. Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha) by his side to carry out the plans most of the time. Cardin nodded a few times, smiling at him, "That all you do for shorty here?" Jaune was _very_ thankful for Ruby's blank stare. To him, the implication was _very_ obvious.

He shook his head, "Nah," he leaned in closer so Ruby couldn't hear him, "her sister and her dad would kick my ass if I did." he and Cardin shared a laugh at that. Cardin leaned back, looking around for a moment before he smirked toward the door. Jaune looked over, frowning slightly as he saw none other than Velvet Scarlatina scurry into the room, eyes flicking about for a moment before she dashed into the line. He turned back to Cardin, seeing him still watching her. "Friend of yours?" Jaune asked, knowing full well the answer.

Or… at least he _thought_ he did.

"Nah, some stuck up upperclassman. Knocked my stuff out of my hand yesterday, didn't so much as _stop_," he said, giving a faint glare at her… then he smiled again. Jaune raised an eyebrow… _that_ was a new one. He didn't recall a single time -baring when one of them didn't exist- that Cardin and Velvet actually got along in _any_ aspect. He'd sort of treated them as the end all be all inequality: Cardin plus Velvet does _not_ equal friendship.

Yet, that smile… something seemed off. "You yell at her after it?" it seemed the natural thing for Cardin to do. He wasn't exactly _subtle_ about showing his displeasure. He was a real 'in your face' kind of guy. Almost like a less funny, more serious version of Yang… a bit harsher too. Cardin shook his head, "Tried to… just kept walking. Like she's too good for us freshmen," he said, glaring back at her… then he smiled again as Velvet stumbled slightly, sitting down.

"Maybe she's just _really_ shy… I can think of a _few_ people who might do the same thing," Jaune said, his eyes immediately flicking to Ruby. The same Ruby who, at the moment, was just eating her food, watching Nora tell her dreams to the group. To Nora's credit, she seemed to be _very_ entertaining to Russel, Sky, and Dove. All were hanging onto her every word, cracking a joke once and a while to lighten the epic story itself. Cardin let his eyes trail to Ruby for a moment, Ruby meeting his eyes after a moment. Ruby immediately looked down at her food, eating a bit faster than before.

Cardin chuckled, "Maybe… hadn't thought of that… knew she couldn't be deaf with those big ears of hers," he said, gesturing above his head. Jaune nodded a few times… he found it strange that Cardin wasn't insulting her. It seemed more a harmless tease… at least, in _Cardin's_ mind. To Velvet it may have been different but… then again, he wasn't talking to Velvet at the moment, was he? Jaune looked over, "How about we go find out?" he wanted to test something… see if he was right. Cardin looked over at her for a second before he turned back to Jaune, shaking his head. "Let me finish eating first," he said.

Jaune nodded a few times, eyes flicking over to Velvet once in a while. She was eating just the same as everyone else, her eyes flicking up once in a while. She seemed nervous… then again, that was Velvet. She was usually nervous unless she was fighting grimm or other people… almost like him, come to think of it. If he replaced 'nervous' with 'constantly on edge' anyway. When Cardin finished eating he just leaned back, raising an eyebrow as he saw Nora still talking, regaling his team. "How many stories does she _have_?" he asked, giving an incredulous look toward Jaune.

Jaune gave a knowing smile, "No stories, just a _lot_ of dreams… maybe a bit of the crazies too," he said. Cardin nodded a few times, letting out a small chuckle as he stood. Jaune stood as well, the two of them carrying their trays toward the trashcan. Cardin was about to walk back when Jaune grabbed his shoulder. "You're done eating, plan on finding out?" he asked, gesturing to Velvet. Cardin looked back at him, nodding a few times. He'd almost forgotten about it. Jaune walked ahead, the two of them slowly approaching her table. Velvet sensed them almost immediately, turning around, eyes flickering over the two.

She froze, body unwilling to move as she saw the man that had shouted at her the other day. The one whose books she'd accidentally knocked down while she was rushing to sparring practice. She saw Jaune give a small smile, Cardin keeping his face neutral. "Umm… hello," Velvet said, looking between the two. She wasn't sure what the two wanted, but she had a _bad_ feeling about this. Cardin walked over, glaring down at her as Velvet shirked away. "There a reason you knocked-"

"I'm sorry!"

Velvet almost immediately bowed her head and apologized. _Big_ mistake when dealing with Cardin. He didn't like it. Something that simple, that easy. He wanted struggle, he wanted gratification, he wanted something that felt like it was _earned_. That and, frankly, he hated how _cowardly_ it made her seem. He glared at her, "Watch where you're going next time," he turned away, scowling a fair bit more. Jaune walked around him, raising an eyebrow at his expression. He could guess what was going through Cardin's head but, at the same time… something seemed off.

Cardin scoffed, "Can't believe I thought that damn coward was cute." _that_ got Jaune to freeze in his tracks… _what_? Cardin Winchester… hands down the most speciest person he'd _ever_ met throughout time… thought a faunus was _cute_? That… _no_ that… that shouldn't have been possible. Or… was it? "_What are his normal reasons for… he bullied me too… he bullied EVERYONE that was… weaker…_"

Jaune came to a realization at that moment. Realized something he'd never known about Cardin Winchester. It wasn't the species at all… it was how strong he thought they were. All he cared about was strength… that was why he was being so friendly with him and his team _now_. He'd shown he wasn't willing to just take his crap… he'd shown _strength_. Cardin was a survival of the fittest kind of guy, Jaune had always known that. The weak die, the strong live and all that.

If that was the case, species wouldn't matter to him at _all_.

"I wouldn't call her a coward… just a socially awkward bunny. Ruby probably acts the same way when those kinds of things," Jaune said. Cardin nodded a few times, mulling over the possibility in his head. He'd seen Ruby as a rather easy target as well… then again, if _she_ was the team leader instead of Jaune, she had to be _some_ count compared to him -the guy that had _actually_ stood up to him.

"Think you might be onto something Jaune… aw hell, my team and I gotta go. See ya later," Cardin said, patting Jaune on the back before dashing over, rallying his team behind him before they marched off toward Ms. Goodwitch's classroom. Jaune slowly sat down, looking after them for a bit before he turned, smiling as he saw team SNBL approaching them. Even as they sat down, Jaune couldn't believe it was all real. He'd just done something he thought _impossible_:

He'd made friends… with _Cardin Winchester._


	9. Day One: Part Zwei

(**a/n-**** rainshadowartist/art/Professor-Peach-concept-extended-634394315** **for reference, probably the best design of her I've seen. All credit to the artist, this isn't my character.**)

"Took you guys long enough!"

Nora said, smiling as she saw team SNBL finally walking toward team RNJR. They'd been sitting down for maybe ten minutes, everyone barring Ren already done with their breakfast. That being said, they had almost fifteen minutes before their first class _officially_ started. Team SNBL was in a similar position. The group sat down, Yang of course sitting near her sister with Pyrrha taking a seat next to her. Weiss -not wanting to take any chances- made sure Pyrrha acted as a barrier between her and the blonde brawler. Blake, on the other hand, sat in front of Nora at the very end.

The conversation between the two teams mostly consisted of Nora telling her stories again, Ren adding in the details like he did last time, and Yang occasionally chiming in with a bad pun or two. During the whole thing, Blake quietly ate, her eyes occasionally flicking over to Jaune and Ruby. They acted… well, what she guessed was normal for them. Ruby somewhat nervous but still bubbly and excited, Jaune alert but somewhat relaxed. She watched as Jaune ate, trying to search for even a _hint_ of what or _who_ he was through his actions.

"Blake." said girl turned, raising an eyebrow as she saw Ren to be the one looking at her. He nodded behind him, one that was nearly imperceptible to everyone else. Blake saw, of course. She waited, watching as Ren excused himself and went to toss his plate away, leaving Nora to tell her stories unhindered by his corrections -a rare opportunity for her. Blake waited about two minutes before she stood, throwing away her food -thankfully she was done anyway- before walking off the same direction Ren had.

"Mind explaining why you're watching my teammates?" Blake nearly jumped as she heard Ren's voice right next to her ear. She turned around, seeing Ren leaning against the wall, his arms crossed as he gazed at her impassively. She waited for a beat before she walked next to him, looking either way down the hall. "He's hiding something… I want to figure out what it is," she said. Ren slowly nodded… he wasn't terribly surprised Blake had come to that conclusion. She seemed a bit more perceptive than her teammates -more like himself.

"I'm not the only one who sensed it then. That Jaune and Ruby are keeping secrets," he said, casually leaning back and looking at the ceiling. Blake did the same, falling into the same pitfall as Jaune (despite doing it before Ren), Ruby, and Nora -to some extent- by trying to mimic his stance, only to do it _far_ worse and far more unnaturally than he was. After a moment Blake turned to look at him, "Do you have any idea what it could be?" she asked. Ren frowned, scratching his chin… he had a _few_ suspicions but, at the same time, he had nothing concrete. Nothing he could call more than a hunch.

"No, I don't," Ren said. Blake nodded a few times… she figured he wouldn't. He might be their teammate, but it wasn't like he and Nora would earn Ruby _and_ Jaune's complete trust and loyalty within the span of just a day. Sure, they'd fought together during initiation, but it was going to take more than _one_ battle before they'd all be close as kin. "Any guesses?" Blake asked. She had her own theories of course -most of which were _easily_ proven wrong- but they were theories nonetheless. Ren nodded a few times… yeah, he had a _few_ guesses.

"The two could be dating?"

Blake shook her head, "I thought of that but… they just don't have that _look_ when they look at each other, you know what I mean?"

Ren nodded, "I understand… he could be teaching her. He's more skilled in aura manipulation than most other students."

Blake slowly nodded, "That _would_ explain a bit… but why would they be keeping that a secret at all?"

Ren shrugged, "From what I gather, Ruby isn't that great with people. She could just be embarrassed about needing help. Given she came here two years early, she might not want to seem weaker than anyone else."

Blake nodded again, "Fair point… but when would they be training? I followed them up to the roof last night and they… well, they just _talked_. No training."

"Maybe they were planning to start training?" Ren suggested.

Blake shook her head, "No, they were talking about some sort of stunt Nora pulled with the light socket."

"..."

"..."

"I said light socket, didn't I?" Blake asked. Ren nodded a few times, a small smile on his face as he saw Blake's tint light pink. She looked away, hand reaching up and lightly patting her bow out of habit. Ren looked up, raising an eyebrow… he'd let it go. One secret at a time. Focus on Jaune and Ruby... for now. "You meant to say electrical outlet, right? Where she stabbed the fork into it to show off her electricity absorption semblance?" Blake's eyes widened, but she nodded nonetheless. She'd heard Jaune and Ruby talking about it but… she'd expected it to be _sort of _exaggerated. Then again, the look Ren was giving her told her it was _very_ true.

"Though… they were also talking about something turning pink… that was normally white…" Blake's face immediately tinted said pink. Ren just smiled, slowly shaking his head. Well, he knew who had the dirtiest mind out of their two teams now… then again, Yang could probably give her some competition on _that_ front. Ren pushed off the wall, starting to walk slowly to the cafeteria. Blake followed, walking right next to him. "They were talking about her aura. Jaune was showing off some sort of aura trick and amplified Ruby's aura. Hers _was_ red, but it turned pink after Jaune amplified it. Apparently, that normally doesn't happen," Ren explained.

The two walked into the cafeteria, both splitting off and heading for their respective sides of the table, both left with some answers but _far_ more questions. How many aura tricks did Jaune know? Why were the two meeting and talking in secret? Was Ruby just _really_ shy and didn't want anyone knowing she needed help? Was it a pride thing? Were the two attracted to one another? Was it something else that neither of the two even suspected yet?

What were Jaune and Ruby hiding?

…

"Welcome! Welcome! Take your seats, everyone!"

Jaune smiled as he walked into professor Peach's classroom, Ruby, Nora, and Ren at his sides. He saw the pink haired woman standing in front of a chalkboard, tapping on the edge of her desk. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun -held by what looked to be either a syringe or pair of scissors- made to keep her hair from her face, her eyes covered with a pair of safety goggles pressing into her mocha skin. Clad in the long, twin buttoned lab coat with the long, black rubber gloves, she was _exactly_ how Jaune remembered, and exactly how Ruby pictured a mad scientist would look.

Team RNJR took their seats somewhere in the middle at Ruby's request. Far enough from the front to maybe not be noticed, and far enough from the back they didn't look like they were _trying_ to get noticed. Jaune could tell pretty easily what Ruby was trying to do. After all, he'd practically _wrote_ the introvert's classroom playbook through his many different trips in time. He and Ruby sat with Nora and Ren following shortly after as the rest of the class started pouring in. Looking off to the side, Jaune saw Cardin and his team sitting near the back. They were a bit more of a mixed bag than he'd have expected.

Only Dove was actually paying any attention to the teacher, given class hadn't started yet. Sky looked like he was about to fall asleep, likely having just got done with a sparring match in Goodwitch's class. Cardin and Russel were just talking about… something. Jaune couldn't tell from this distance. He turned around, looking back ahead toward the professor, watching as she walked out from behind her desk, revealing her to be wearing black, latex boots that ended in heels, along with stockings that disappeared into her lab coat somewhere. The professor walked around to the blackboard, writing down in big, scrawling letters the words 'Professor Peach' on it.

When the bell rang, she wasted no time, "Hello students! My name is professor Peach, and for the rest of this year I'll be your chemistry and dust studies professor!" there were a few students trying to be polite, welcoming the professor. A few of them were looking over at her lab station, no doubt somewhat curious. Some were even fiddling around with the strange contraptions Jaune had noticed on each other desks. Of course, _he_ knew they were dust lines used to heat up certain projects, but still. "Now, before we actually get started, I'd like all team leaders to please come to the front of the class!" she said.

A few people stood up, but Ruby… well, laid her head down and covered her head with her hood. She was afraid of this. She did _not_ want to try and introduce herself to a bunch more people! She'd barely gotten through it with Nora and Ren! "Come on Ruby! Get up there!" Nora whispered… well, whispered by _Nora_ standards, which meant everyone within a twenty-foot radius heard it. Ren turned, nodding a few times at his shy leader. Ruby just shook her head, pulling her cloak closer to her. "Hmm… only three leaders? I swore I had at _least_ four -let me check here…" Peach grabbed her clipboard, looking over the attendance sheet.

"Hmm… Ruby Rose? Ruby Rose, are you here?" she asked. She looked at a few of the other team leaders, two of them shaking their heads. Cardin, on the other hand, just casually pointed to Jaune. If he was there, Ruby would be _somewhere_ nearby, despite the fact he couldn't see her. Peach looked up, raising an eyebrow… she had no clue what Ruby Rose looked like, but she was _fairly_ certain Ruby was, in fact, a 'she'. The boy Cardin had pointed at did _not_ look like a she in any respect. Noticing her look, Cardin elaborated, "He's her partner, if anyone knows where she is, it's him," he said.

"Ah! Thank you young man!" she casually pat Cardin's shoulder before turning to Jaune, "Now then, would you please explain where Ms. Rose is this morning? Terrible thing to miss the first day!" she said, a bright smile on her face. Meanwhile, Ruby sat up slightly, making the mistake of making eye contact with the professor. The second silver eyes met the reddish-pink ones, Ruby _knew_ Peach knew who she was. The woman smiled, "Ah! There you are, Ms. Rose! Come on up and we'll get started!" she said. Ruby gulped… there was no getting out of it this time. She slowly stood, pulling her hood a bit further over her face as she walked past her teammates, down the stairs.

"_Oh dust, everyone's looking at me! They're staring! I gotta act natural! Wait -no! Don't act natural! That's what got me into this mess to begin with! They're judging me, they're judging me, WHY didn't I just go up the first time!? At least then I'd have more than just ME making my way down!_" Ruby was internally panicking until she got up to the front, looking up to see Ms. Peach over her. The woman smiled at her, motioning her to take her place next to another team leader on the end. The four lined up, the two girls on the end with the two guys closer to Peach herself.

"Now that we've got everyone here, I'd like the four of you to tell me your name and what team you lead! Let's start with you young man!" she said, gesturing to Cardin. Cardin stepped forward, casually introducing himself as the leader of team CRDL. As soon as he did he got a few shouts from his teammates, a few people laughing at Russell's enthusiasm. The other guy went next, swiping his hair out of his eyes. He introduced himself as Gray Golding, leader of team GOLD -fittingly enough. Next came the next girl, one Jaune recognized _very_ well.

She smirked, slipping off her sunglasses. "I'm Coco Adel, leader of the second-year team CFVY," she said. A few people started whispering among themselves. Why was a second-year team leader in a first-year class? Had she just not taken it her first year? Was she an idiot and had failed it twice already? Coco glared at them before pulling her sunglasses back on, stepping back and lightly pushing Ruby forward. "Uhh… hi I'm uh, I'm Ruby Rose! I lead team RNJR," she said, pulling her hood further down. Jaune had to admit, she'd done better than he thought she would. He figured she'd freeze up or something.

"Excellent! You may return to your seats -oh! Ms. Rose and Ms. Adel!" both Ruby and Coco turned around. "For future reference, this is a science lab. Any head coverings such as your own aren't allowed during student involved experiments," she said, gesturing to Ruby's cloak and Coco's beret. Both let out a sigh before walking back toward the entrance. Ruby, of course, kept her cloak on. Coco, on the other hand, actually took off her beret, laying it in her uniform jacket. Ruby made her way back to her team, taking a seat next to Jaune before immediately planting her face into the table.

"I didn't sound too nervous, did I?" she whispered, looking up at Jaune. Jaune shook his head, giving her the most encouraging smile he could. Ruby smiled right back before she turned to the professor, watching her clear her throat, erasing her name from the board before grabbing a piece of chalk. She froze, dashing to her desk and grabbing out a little notepad, scribbling something down before setting it back, walking back to the board and clearing her throat _again_. "Now, before we get started, can anyone tell me the types of dust most often used in _combat_ situations?" after getting over the shock of what just happened, a few hands went up, Jaune and Ren's included. She tapped her chin for a moment before pointing at Ren.

"Fire, Wind, Electric, Explosive, Light, and Gravity," he said. Peach smiled, clapping a few times at the boy's correct answer. She went to work drawing a diagram of each on the board, going so far as drawing little pictures of what each one was -flames beneath fire, a down arrow beneath gravity, etc. Peach walked back around to the front, making a few lines with chalk beneath each one. "Excellent! Now, there _are_ many other types of dust, and a skilled huntsman can use almost _any_ dust in a combat situation. For this first unit of class, however, we're going to be reviewing the major uses of these core six types of dust," she said.

"Weiss must love this class, huh?" Jaune muttered to Ruby. He got a little giggle out of her and a smile out of Ren. All of them figured the Schnee Dust Company heir would know just about _everything_ about these types of dust, and likely the many different types that accompanied them. That being said… so did Jaune. He'd been around dust enough times he'd picked up a thing or two... or a thousand. Peach grabbed a yardstick, pointing at the fire dust, "Fire dust is most often the first type of dust huntsmen are trained with. Can anyone tell me the _reason_ for that?" she asked. Again more hands went up. Peach called on Gray Gold.

"Its stability," he said. Peach nodded a few times, writing stability on there before asking for other things. More hands shot up, more people answered, more things were written down, some were corrected. In the end, there were three things written: Destructive power, stability, and post-impact damage. She moved on to the next one, going through the process until she got to gravity. "Now, _gravity_ dust is very tricky dust to actually use. Unless, of course, you use it to slay a giant nevermore by running up the side of a cliff," she smiled at Ruby as Jaune, Ren, and Nora did the same. Ruby just covered her head with her hood more, giving a faint smile at the professor despite her blush.

"Now, I want someone to tell me what direction gravity dust pulls," Peach asked. Jaune raised an eyebrow… was that supposed to be a trick question? Gravity dust didn't pull in _one_ direction, it pulled toward the closest surface. When Ruby smeared it on her feet, it clung to the nearest surface of the cliff. When she and Blake shot the nevermore's tail, it pulled to the temple's floor -the nearest surface. He held up his hand, the teacher calling on him. "Towards the nearest surface area," he said. A few people raised an eyebrow at him, some giggling slightly. Though, all were silent as the teacher nodded.

"_Very_ good Mr. Arc! Most people believe that gravity dust pulls in the direction of gravity itself -that being _down_. In most cases this is correct, _however_, as you've pointed out, gravity dust will actually pull towards the nearest surface, allowing a nevermore to be pulled from the sky with enough dust, or a huntsman to stick to a wall with enough gravity dust on their hands and/or feet!" she said, drawing a diagram of a nevermore sticking to a wall, and then one of a person sticking to a wall right afterwards, each with arrows pointing the direction the gravity dust was pulling them.

Peach turned around, wiping away her diagrams as a few of the other students took notes rapidly -Ruby and Ren included. Jaune, of course, had all these notes and more stored away both on his scroll and in his memories. He and Nora were two of the few not taking notes that actually _did_ care about the class. Peach kept writing a few notes on the board, Jaune paying attention. That is until he felt something coming toward him. His hand shot up like lightning, grabbing the piece of paper before it could land in his hair. He turned, Cardin smiling at him as he gestured for him to open it.

Jaune laid it beneath the desk, doing just that. He felt his face tint pink as he read the note: "_My whole team's staring at Peach's ass, Russel thinks she should be teaching sex-ed._" Jaune looked over, following team CRDL's (or at least team RDL's) eyes to find they were most certainly _not_ on Peach's notes. Jaune looked back, shaking his head before turning back, ripping up the note and tossing it in the desk. He watched as Peach walked back towards the edge, writing a few more notes on the board before sitting behind her desk, searching around for something. Jaune felt another note coming his way. This time he let it land in front of him, Ren's eyes flicking over to see it.

Jaune opened it as subtly as he could once more, raising an eyebrow at its contents. "_After school, our teams should spar. Wanna see what you, the ninja, the psycho sugar-bomber and the blushing red-girl can do._" Jaune bit his lip to keep from laughing. He'd not heard such an accurate description of Nora in _quite_ awhile… he had to admit, it was quite fitting. He slid _that_ note into his pocket before turning around, motioning with his head to Ruby before shrugging. Cardin nodded a few times, turning his attention back to the board, actually trying to get the notes down (not that his teammates weren't, but they seemed more focused on something else of the professor's).

The rest of the class was rather uneventful, Peach going over more things he already knew. When he heard the bell that signaled the end of class, he calmly waited for the rest of his team to stand, waited for Ruby to step out into the aisle before he followed. As they walked, he looked up to see Cardin whispering to Russel. Russel nodded a few times, a small smile on his face. Cardin flashed him a look and a smile, one that told him 'be ready'. Jaune wasn't sure what _for_ but, he had a bad feeling about it.

Sure enough, that bad feeling came to pass when Russel leaned back slightly, sticking out his foot _right_ in front of Ruby's. Ruby stumbled a bit, face a few inches from the ground when Jaune dashed forward, wrapping his arms around her belly, and pulling her back up against him. "Oh shi- I am _so_ sorry! I didn't see you there!" Russel said. To his credit, he _was_ good at making himself look guilty. Ruby accepted the apology, of course, leading to Russel walking away to the rest of his team. Jaune looked up at Cardin, who only gave him a wink and a thumbs up. He looked down, blushing slightly as he realized he was hugging Ruby to him. "_So that was his plan huh? Okay… better than what I was thinking at least,_" he thought.

With that, the four members of team RNJR made their way out, heading for a class Nora was _very_ excited for. "EEEH! Do you think I'll get to blow someone up!?" she asked, nearly climbing up Ren's side. Ren just shrugged, not willing to commit an answer and deal with a disappointed Nora. He'd done that _far_ too many times to ever want to deal with it again. Ruby was a bit less excited, but it wasn't exactly _easy_ for her to keep her excitement contained like it was for Ren and Jaune. Jaune was more dreading having to fight anyone. Not because he didn't think he could win -in fact he was almost _certain_ he could beat anybody barring the teacher herself- but rather because the more skillful he made himself seem, the more difficult it would be to hide.

As soon as they arrived, Jaune noticed an immediate problem: team SNBL was in their class. If he was paired up to fight with Blake, Weiss or even _Yang_ fine but… fighting Pyrrha _might_ require some more interesting techniques. Not to _mention_ how he was going to swing that he could beat the four-time Mistral champion when literally _no one_ barring his team had ever heard of him. The two teams took their seats next to one another, with Ruby sitting next to her sister on the end. Jaune turned to the small arena, watching Ms. Goodwitch slowly walk out to the center. She looked around for a moment, seemingly taking attendance before she, at last, nodded, tapping her scroll a few times.

"One thing will be made clear during your time at Beacon. Any class you have with me will _not_ be an ordinary class. There will be no multiple choice tests. There will be no written response. There will be no true or false. The only kind of tests and homework you will have in this class, are entirely physical. This class is designed very specifically to push each of you to your limits and to train you to be better through combat with your peers. You will either grow to love this class or despise it, but keep in mind that everything done here is necessary for you to become the great huntsmen of tomorrow. Seeing today is your first day, a first-year team will be selected for the first sparring match," she said. Jaune grit his teeth… he was afraid of that. Though, not at all surprised. Goodwitch _did_ have the habit of doing that.

She tapped on her scroll for a few times before a large screen above the arena showed two combatant slots, switching through pictures as if on a wheel. Jaune grit his teeth, _hoping_ he wouldn't have to fight anyone. One slowed down on what looked to be Yang… then sped up _just_ enough to move to Pyrrha. "Oh come on!" Yang said, falling back, hands flying back to her lap. Ruby pat her sister's shoulder, giving her a consoling smile while at the same time _praying_ she wouldn't have to fight Pyrrha herself. Jaune watched, eyes widening as he saw it slowing between him and Ren. He grit his teeth as it slowly moved past Ren, at last stopping on him.

"Pyrrha Nikos vs. Jaune Arc!"

Pyrrha stood, along with Jaune. Both looked at each other, each giving the other a small smile, silently dreading facing one another. Pyrrha because Jaune was such an unknown, with the way he'd been able to maneuver with his strange aura tricks. Jaune because he _really_ didn't want to use those aura tricks on Pyrrha and give himself more things to explain. Ms. Goodwitch moved to the center, smiling at the two, "Ms. Nikos, you report to the girl's locker room and get ready. You will do so in the boy's locker room, Mr. Arc." both combatants nodded, heading down.

"Fighting Pyrrha on the first day… tough break," Yang said, watching Jaune walk away. Ruby nodded, but for a _very_ different reason. Jaune was trying to stay hidden -what with the whole time travel thing- how was he going to explain beating Pyrrha? Was he just going to put on a show and let himself lose so that he can hold up his image? But then again, he probably has _way_ more aura than she does… how was he going to fake going down when he was literally one giant shield!? "_This… this won't end well, will it?_" Ruby thought, both dreading and _highly _anticipating the battle of behemoths.

The time traveler vs. the champion.

…

In five minutes, the combatants were set.

Pyrrha stood there, a sort of humble confidence about her stance, spear in hand. Jaune, on the other hand, was tense as could be. Everyone -barring Ruby- interpreted it wrongly as being nervous about fighting the strongest fighter in the grade. "_Okay Jaune, just fight without using any aura tricks you haven't already used and you'll be fine… you can explain that… this could end REALLY badly,_" he thought, drawing his sword and shield in a basic stance. He waited, slowly moving to the right as Pyrrha moved to the left.

When Ms. Goodwitch started the fight, Pyrrha wasted _no_ time in rushing for Jaune. Jaune simply waited, watching her, mind working a mile a minute as she charged. He could see a thousand outcomes in a thousandth of a second. When she jumped, Jaune took action. He dashed ahead, slamming his shield against her stomach, stabbing his blade up toward her head, just missing her by a hair. Literally. He cut a single hair from her head with his blade. She fell back, rolling up and aiming his spear ta him. Jaune crouched, using his shield to block the bullets before charging her. She held up her shield, only to stagger back as Jaune leaped at her, using his shield as a battering ram.

He sliced down into her armor, knocking her back before jumping away, swinging his blade back around. He looked up, seeing her aura at eighty-five, his still at one-hundred. Pyrrha dashed toward him, eyes laser-focused as she recognized him as a genuine opponent, a real threat. She stopped next to him, slamming her blade down. Jaune moved his shield back, forcing it into place against Pyrrha's semblance. Her eyes widened as her blade stuck against his shield. Jaune dropped his blade, focusing his aura into his hand before delivering a haymaker to Pyrrha's face. She staggered back as Jaune grabbed the blade, slicing at her undefended midriff.

She jumped back a few feet, taking a few breaths. Her eyes widened as she saw their aura counts. She was already in the yellow at seventy-five. Jaune was a _ninety-nine_ still! "_He's got a lot of aura… this is going to be a real challenge,_" she thought, going on the defensive. She couldn't beat him like this, his defense was just too solid. She'd have to change the game if she wanted to actually _win_ it. She waited, Jaune slowly walking toward her as she circled around him, eyes flicking around him and trying to predict what he'd do next.

He dashed forward, but this time Pyrrha was ready. She stepped forward, slamming her shield low against his leg, slicing up with her sword. It pinged off his arms, catching his face and knocking him off balance. She went on the offensive, slamming her shield against his face before spinning her blade into a spear, stabbing his sternum before firing a round. Jaune fell back, his aura working only slightly harder than normal to repair the damage. He looked up, seeing his aura now at ninety-five.

Pyrrha stepped back, waiting on him to make the next move. He dashed forward again, sliding down this time and hooking her leg with his sword-arm. She staggered a bit as he spun around, taking his blade up against her leg before grabbing it in both hands, slamming it down on her back. Pyrrha fell to the ground as Jaune gave in to his instincts, stomping on her back a few times before she managed to turn around, blocking his foot before sending him up, off balance. Pyrrha followed it up by shooting him in the stomach, sending him back a few more feet.

Jaune stood wiping his brow. Pyrrha was at fifty percent, him at ninety. He frowned… that bombardment of stomping had been a mistake, he'd known it while doing it. While he was distracted Pyrrha dashed ahead, slamming his face with her shield before delivering a few bullets to his belly. Jaune staggered back, focusing as his aura started glowing bright white, making a makeshift suit of armor. Jaune made it as inefficient as possible, to make it appear like he had less aura than he did. He dashed ahead, the bullets simply pinging off the aura armor as he dropped his sword and shield, slamming his hands against Pyrrha's shield. He knocked her off balance before wrapping his arms around her, lifting her up and suplexing her into the ground behind him.

He turned, slamming his hands on top of her, focusing to send more and more aura through them, trying to get himself at _least_ into the orange. "Mr. Arc! Enough!" Jaune froze, slowly looking up. His eyes widened as his armor dispelled itself, leaving him breathing a bit harder. Pyrrha was at twenty percent, in the red, while his plan had worked. He was at thirty, _just_ out of the red himself.

"As you can see, Ms. Nikos's aura has reached the red level, and Mr. Arc's aura isn't far behind. It is at this point that an official would call the match. Ms. Nikos, you underestimated Mr. Arc at the beginning of the match, giving him an advantage. If you'd taken it as seriously in the beginning as you did near the end, you'd have likely won this fight. Mr. Arc, an impressive display of strength, however, you'd do well to work on sustainability. Your aura is incredibly strong, but it won't last against more than a few minutes at the rate of expense you're going. Mr. Arc wins the match!" Ms. Goodwitch said.

Team RNR were the only ones clapping and cheering, everyone else _stunned_ that Pyrrha Nikos. _The_ Pyrrha Nikos had just _lost_. It was a close loss (thanks to Jaune making it so anyway) but it was a loss nonetheless. Jaune held out a hand to Pyrrha, the girl gladly accepting it and standing. She smiled at him, "Mind helping the loser off the field?" she asked, leaning against his shoulder. Jaune just nodded, holding Pyrrha's shoulder and keeping the stumbling girl upright. Jaune frowned... he'd overdone it a bit. By the time they'd walked off the field, _everyone_ was whispering about what just happened.

Pyrrha smiled as she looked up at Jaune, "I'm sorry for underestimating you… you're a lot stronger than I thought," she said. Jaune smiled right back, the two of them walking toward the girl's locker room through the tunnels. He didn't personally care. Being underestimated was one of the best things that could happen in a fight. Well, provided he was _actually_ more skilled than they thought he was. His muscles were still crying out from the exercise… his soul and mind might've been used to it, but his body was _not_ up to fighting at his prime level. "_Need to hit the gym… build my body back up to standard,_" he thought.

He guided Pyrrha to the girl's locker room before turning, making his way to the guy's. The two of them were changed and heading back towards their seats by the time the next fight was starting. The reason Jaune knew that? He saw that Nora wasn't there. He walked past, sitting next to Ruby. It was exactly _because_ he was sitting next to Ruby that he realized what the next fight would be. After all, Ruby had spent most of the time before his fight talking with her sister. Now, she was nowhere to be seen. His suspicions were confirmed when Ms. Goodwitch announced the next fight:

"Nora Valkyrie vs. Yang Xiao Long!"


	10. Day One: Part Trois

"_Your mission is very simple._"

A small girl walked out of her classroom, her face as neutral as she could make it. Clad in the normal Beacon uniform, she looked just like any other student. Well, except she was about a foot shorter than anyone else. Few people were in the hallways and those that were paid her little mind. She stepped through the halls, a very particular destination in mind. She kept walking, treading a bit quieter past the classrooms she knew had more strict teachers in them. She had her hall pass, of course, but she could never be too careful.

"_Secure the time machine, and bring it to me._"

The girl stopped the moment she got to the entrance to the combat class, pressing her little ear against the keyhole. She listened, smiling as she heard gunshots and explosions. That was her cue. She pushed the door open, quietly closing it behind her before she crouched down, looking up at the class. Her eyes didn't linger too long on one person, wary of engaging their aura's sixth sense for danger. It wasn't until she saw the familiar blond head of hair that her eyes stopped. She looked down, pulling her scroll from her jacket. She opened it to her photos, smirking as she saw a photo of the very man before her.

"_What happens to the time traveler, I leave to your discretion. My only concern is the recovery of the machine._"

The girl faintly smiled as the memory ran through her head, stalking her way to the back row. She looked up, watching as the blonde girl fighting slammed the other one into the wall, only for said other one to get back up and fire a grenade at her. The girl in the stands slowly made her way to her target, her eyes flicking to his pocket. If her memory served her correctly, he always kept his time machine in one of his pockets, always easily accessible to him. She stepped back against the wall, focusing as little cracks of light formed around her, signaling her semblance activating.

She got on all fours, crawling forward as more cracks formed above her, creating the illusion of normal ground. Perhaps detectable by the man she was stealing from. Then again, he _was_ a bit busy watching the fight. The girl crawled close, hand hovering _just_ above Jaune's pocket. She paused as he moved, shifting around a bit. The girl reached for his pocket as he leaned forward, feeling around… nothing. Nothing but his scroll. She checked the other pocket… nothing at _all_. "_He always keeps it on him unless… oh no,_" the girl thought, eyes going wide.

She crawled back slow, eyes constantly on the figure before her. She stood up, keeping her semblance active as she made her way for the door. When she was just a few feet from the door, she heard the one thing she _didn't_ want to hear: Goodwitch calling the match. She turned, leaving her field up and throwing caution to the wind, slamming open the door and dashing out, looking behind her for fear of being tailed. She dashed through the halls of the school, drawing a few more eyes than last time. Until, at last, she made it to a small broom closet, where she quickly slammed the door and slid against it.

"_How does he already know I'm here!? I haven't even DONE anything yet!_" the girl saw black spots on her vision, hyperventilating as her camouflage started to shatter. She gripped the sides of her head, the quivering in her hair and face slowly disappearing as she regained control of herself. She looked up, knowing that one of them was now pink. She winked a few times until it finally reverted to green. "_Okay Neo, you're fine. It must be a coincidence. Maybe there's someone else? Another person searching for the machine? Maybe he's just being extra cautious… maybe it was just somewhere more secure than his pocket. Yeah… yeah, that's gotta be it._" she stood, about to walk out when the door suddenly opened.

Neo froze, standing face to face with a man in a janitor's outfit. The man cut a rather intimidating figure, almost two feet taller than Neo herself. The janitor blinked twice, his expression bored and unchanged. He proceeded to grab his mop from behind her before shutting the door, leaving without another word. Neo looked at the door for a moment before she wisely decided it would be a good time to head back to class. She was almost there when she felt the reason _why_ she'd originally left class in the first place hit her, her bladder crying out. She dashed into the bathroom nearby, deciding she didn't want to wait _another_ ten minutes before actually going.

When she finished, she dashed toward the lockers.

The janitor had given her an idea.

…

**(a/n- Kind of unnecessary by now, but I won't deny everyone a Yang V. Nora fight.)**

"Begin!"

Nora and Yang both started off strong, Nora launching two grenades before getting knocked back by one of Yang's red shotgun shells. Yang crossed her arms, gritting her teeth as the explosions sent her back, her feet dragging through the concrete like mud. She slowly looked up from her position, watching as Nora spun her grenade launcher around into its hammer state. The two locked eyes, and for a beat, no one moved. No one said a word. It was quiet enough people could hear their own hearts in their ears, Nora and Yang both considering their next move.

When Yang blinked, Nora charged, face set in a crazy smile as she leaped into the air. Yang reacted fast, firing one gauntlet behind her, her right hand reared back in a fist. "RAAAAGGGH!" Both women yelled as they approached. Nora swung down early, Yang striking up. Yang's Ember Celica fired into Nora's hammer, knocking her back, giving Yang time to follow up with a punch to the stomach.

Nora slammed into the concrete, "Ooooohh… you made me _mad_!" Nora hopped up, slamming her hammer into the ground, pounding a hand on her chest a few times before grabbing pieces of concrete she'd sent up in her landing. She started chucking them at Yang, the blonde brawler taking a boxing stance. She fired a few shots off, little concrete bits showering her as she ducked down, letting another one go over her. She kept moving like this as if she were boxing a figure made entirely of concrete.

Nora kept throwing until she slammed one down, only for Yang to catch it in her left hand. She looked up, eyes flashing red, hair smoldering as she gazed at Nora. Nora blinked a few times before holding out her other hand. "I forgot to shake your hand before the fight," Nora explained. Yang ignored her, going to punch her with her other hand. Though, Nora proved herself a bit more clever than Yang though, her hand gripping Yang's wrist like lightning, dropping the concrete. She ducked, pulling Yang's arm back, letting herself fall. The two ended up with Yang's belly on Nora's bent legs.

Nora smirked, "bye bye!" She flexed her legs out, sending a pulse of lightning through them to send Yang into the _roof_. As she fell, Nora stood by with Magnhild ready. She focused most of her strength into her muscles, lightning riding up her hands and even into her _hammer_ somewhat as she strained her body. As Yang fell, Nora hit her with everything she had. Yang seemingly teleported, a cloud of concrete and dust flying into the air from the impact. Nora fell to one knee, panting a bit before looking up. "Should've… shaken hands… first…" every muscle in her arms were on fire. Her lungs felt like lead, but she'd done it. She'd won.

Unfortunately, Nora didn't know how Yang's semblance worked.

Nora's eyes widened as she saw a large piece of the concrete wall slowly moved out of the way, a brilliant yellow glow coming from within. Two glowing red eyes looked up from the darkness, the only thing visible barring her hair. "Now you made _me_ mad!" Yang dashed forward, gauntlets cocked and eyes dead-set on Nora. Nora, knowing she had literally _one_ chance before Yang utterly _annihilated _her, flipped Magnhild into its grenade launcher state. She pulled her trigger… then she tried again… "_Oh come on! WORK!_"

**BOOOOOM!**

Well… she got her wish.

A _massive_ pink fireball (in the shape of a heart oddly enough) launched both of them back, a wave of heat and force pushing even some of the people in the stands back. Everyone stood silent, looking down at the smoldering _wreck_ that was the arena. They looked up… both auras looked to be at zero. Both of them looked to have lost. As the smoke cleared, everyone saw the two lying on their backs, both covered in soot and dust from the concrete. Neither moved, neither made any attempt to keep fighting. Magnhild was tossed to the side, melted into what looked almost more like a ball than a grenade launcher.

Then, a single arm shot up.

Yang slowly looked toward her team, slowly curling her hand into a thumbs up before smiling at them. "Nailed… it…" her arm fell back to her chest, her head rolling to the side. Even Ms. Goodwitch was silent for a few moments, still trying to process what had just _happened_. After a few seconds, though, her professionalism was back. "This match will be considered a draw due to a mechanical malfunction. The team's of Ms. Valkyrie and Ms. Xiao Long are to report to the infirmary after classes are complete." at that, Miss Goodwitch began to fix the arena, oblivious to the figure that had crept in and out of her classroom.

…

"Is she okay?"

It was only natural for Ruby to be worried. After all, most of the arena was in complete ruin (of course, that was being repaired by Ms. Goodwitch as she spoke), and Yang and Nora were unconscious and being loaded onto stretchers. It wasn't so much Yang -her sister had taken _far_ more punishment in the past- but more for her new friend Nora. Of course, seeing the passive looks on Jaune and Ren's faces put her mind at ease. If _they_ weren't worried, why should she be? "Nora's weapon is prone to misfire when overused… you'd be surprised just how often this happens," Ren said, a small frown on his face. He wasn't _that_ concerned about Nora, but more so about how angry she would be that her weapon now needed some _serious_ repairs.

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "It's a _grenade launcher_… you mean it can just go 'BOOM!' in her hands if she shoots it too much!?" Ren just nodded. Ruby wisely decided to make a mental note to _never_ stand near Nora in the middle of a fight… _ever_. Though, after that panic, there was, as is often the case with Ruby, a moment of clarity. She used her superspeed, practically teleporting down to the battlefield and grabbing Nora's weapon, bringing it back up with a trail of rose petals behind her. She started looking over the smoldering wreck of twisted metal, twisting some pieces of it back where she could.

"Wow, what moron _designed_ this thing? The firing pins aren't even _aligned_ right! It's a miracle it doesn't just set all of them off at once! It keeps blowing up in her hands because they aren't set to take the heat into account when firing! Whoever designed this made a _lot_ of rookie mistakes!" Ruby said excitedly. She found it hard to believe such a weapon was _ever_ approved for use. They were minor things, sure, but putting them all together left an unpredictable and _highly_ dangerous weapon… in the hands of _another _unpredictable and _highly dangerous weapon_.

"I designed it…" Ren trailed off, frowning slightly at the mess. He'd actually taken particular pride in the construction of the first weapon he ever designed… it was a bit of a blow to hear someone two years younger than him insult something he'd spent weeks designing. Ruby's face, as should be expected, turned _bright_ red. She immediately dropped it, "OW! OWIE! BAD IDEA! AAAAHHH!" Ruby started hopping around on one foot, realizing that dropping the hulking mass of burning metal was probably _not_ a good idea when her feet were _directly beneath it_.

Jaune, stopped her, laying his hand on her foot and focusing, a bit of his aura going in and amplifying hers to heal it. She smiled at him before turning back to Ren, waving her hands once more. "It's not a bad weapon! Don't get the wrong idea it's great! I'm a big nerd for weapons so, even the tiniest little mistake looks really obvious to me hehehe… I uh… sorry." Ruby, not for the first time, questioned if she were supposed to have been born mute, but whoever was in charge of that had forgotten to _actually_ take away her voice. After all, it would be _far_ harder for her to talk herself into bad social situations and subsequently dig herself deeper _into_ them if she had no voice to do said talking.

Jaune and Ren, on the other hand, vaguely wondered if Ruby was supposed to have been some sort of adorable little puppy instead of a person. It would explain quite a bit if both men were honest. Though, in the midst of this wondering, Ren decided to try and salvage what he could of Ruby's dignity for her… because she _clearly_ wasn't doing so good on that front. "It's fine, Ruby. I've never been particularly good at the intricacies of weapon design." Jaune rarely heard Ren tell such bald-faced lies. The truth of the matter was simple: Ren was the best weapon designer Jaune had ever _met_ (before, perhaps, Ruby herself).

Magnhild was flawed, sure, but that was more due to it being the first weapon Ren _ever_ designed. That and, frankly, grenade launcher/Warhammer hybrids weren't _easy_ to design to begin with! Jaune was rather surprised Ren was lying just to try and make Ruby feel better… normally he only did that for Nora and _occasionally_ him and Pyrrha. "_Then again, Pyrrha isn't his teammate this time around… and Ruby's his partner too…_" the reason he was lying made a bit more sense, given that bit of context.

Ruby wisely decided not to ruin that momentary help Ren was giving her by keeping her mouth shut, hoisting Magnhild's remains into her arms. She'd get to work fixing it later. A good little side project for her. At least it was something to keep her occupied and keep her from making an even _bigger_ fool of herself. "Ahem," the trio turned, a shiver running down each of their spines as they saw Ms. Goodwitch glaring at them. "Unless the three of you are interested in helping clean the mess your teammate left behind, I suggest you go to your next class. The bell rang almost two minutes ago," Glynda said.

The three wasted _no_ time in dashing out of the classroom, Ruby tossing the ruined Magnhild back toward Glynda. The three made their way out, Glynda watching after them until the three bolted out the door. She turned afterward, waving her riding crop in circles, sending the concrete Nora and Yang had destroyed in the fight back to where it was supposed to go, repairing the structural damages. "_Keep an eye on team RNJR… well, I can understand WHY at least…_" Glynda thought, recalling what Ozpin had told her. The ninja, shy weapon-nerd, the psycho sugar-bomber, and the aura-armored swordsman.

"_I'm inclined to agree, Ozpin. This IS going to be an 'interesting' year._"

…

"Miss Rose?"

"Yes!?" Ruby shot upright, suddenly wide awake. She'd been trying _desperately_ to not fall asleep in professor Port's class -the last class of the day. She wasn't the only one, with many other students (including Nora after walking in fully recovered halfway through class) already giving in to the temptation of slumber. Ruby felt her heart pounding as she looked at Jaune, eyes begging for help. Jaune just shrugged… how could he help? Port hadn't _asked_ anything yet! Ruby tried to control her panic, hoping it was a simple question. Of course, _that_ was soon rectified. "Ms. Rose, can you tell me the last thing I said?" he asked.

Yeah… there was _no _controlling her panic this time.

She felt her heart rate skyrocket, her face slowly turning red as she tried to think of an answer… what was the last thing Port had said? "_Wait… okay, it's a longshot, but it's all I've got!_" Ruby thought, suddenly determined and _very_ nervous. She really didn't have much to lose by saying what she was going to… hopefully, if it went wrong he'd see it as a funny joke and it would help her run out the time.

"You uh… you said 'Ms. Rose, can you tell me the last thing I said?'."

Everyone was silent, many people holding in their laughter at the goofy -yet somewhat accurate- impression of the professor Ruby had done. The professor himself looked exactly the same, eyes still facing the general direction of team RNJR. "Hahaha! Ahh… I walked into that one, I'll admit." _that_ was when most of the class burst out laughing. Jaune and even _Ren_ chuckling a bit at their leader's antics. By the time everyone had settled down, the bell had started ringing. "What a way to end out the class…" Port muttered, walking back to his desk as the students scrambled to leave… those that were awake, anyway.

"That was _way_ too close…" Ruby muttered as soon as they walked out, gripping her heart over her shirt. Jaune nodded… she'd been lucky. If she'd tried that with someone like Oobleck or Glynda, she'd probably be in detention right now… or at least she would be in a few hours when detention _actually_ started. The group made their way out of the classroom, Jaune looking down at his scroll. The first day was over… well, mostly. "Hey, Ruby?" Ruby turned, raising an eyebrow at the taller time traveler.

"Cardin tossed a note at me a few hours ago. He wants our teams to spar, test our strength," Jaune explained. Ruby slowly nodded, lightly rubbing at her chin… then she nodded, exclaiming -in her usual cheerful tone- that it sounded like fun. That… had not been the expected response. He figured she'd either say no, be a bit _less_ enthusiastic about it or be somewhat on the fence about fighting team CRDL. "_Maybe after seeing my beat Pyrrha she's more confident in us? Maybe because it's all of us and not just her? Hmm…_" Jaune was lost in thought as the group walked for the locker rooms.

"You four coming to spar?"

_That_ snapped him out of it. He looked over, eyes focusing on team CRDL -already in their combat gear- standing near the door. Cardin smirked at the group, "We'll be waiting in the arena for you. Don't take too long." at that the four walked to the arena, leaving the four to stare after them. That is until Ruby gave the order to go change. Jaune and Ren both went for the boy's locker room, Ruby and Nora heading back around for the girl's. As soon as they made their way inside, Jaune knew _something_ was off. He wasn't quite sure _what_ but, he had a feeling.

That feeling proved to be correct when he walked toward his locker, freezing when he saw the door move slightly. He slowly stepped toward it, eyes narrowing as his aura gathered in his palm. He moved his other hand, slowly grabbing the door handle. He then slammed the door open, rearing back a fist. His eyes flashed over the figure in his locker, suspicion and tension rapidly changing into confusion and pity. Inside he saw a black haired girl, bright green eyes gazing up at him. Her hands were tied behind her back, her dangling almost an inch off the ground via her underwear.

"What're you… nevermind that now, let's get you out of there," Jaune said, slipping the girl off the hook and untying her hands. The second he did, the girl dashed ahead, wrapping him in a tight hug. Jaune froze for a moment before he smiled, patting the smaller girl's back a few times. She barely came up to his chest, just a bit lower than Ruby herself would. He sat down, frowning as he saw the girl had tears in her eyes. "Hey, it's okay. You're out… do you know who did this?" she shook her head, a few tears slipping from the corners of her eyes.

Jaune didn't think as he pulled her close again, wrapping his arms around her, whispering comforting words into her ear, gently rubbing circles on her back. Meanwhile, Ren stood at the edge, both _highly_ confused and somewhat endeared by the whole thing. There was a certain nurturing quality in Jaune -he'd known that from the moment they'd met- but he'd yet to see it manifest so plainly as it did right then. Jaune and the bullied girl stayed there for a few minutes until at last Jaune pulled back. "Are you okay?" the girl nodded a few times, wiping at her eyes before smiling at him.

Jaune smiled right back, "That's good to hear. I'm Jaune." he held out his hand, giving his normal introduction. The girl shook it with both of hers, Jaune wrapping his other hand around them to find it completely encompassed them both. The girl reached into her pocket, eyes widening slightly for a moment before she frowned. Jaune raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong? Did you lose your scroll?" the girl shook her head, reaching into her jacket and pulling out said scroll. She waited for a beat before she opened the scrolls messaging feature, showing Jaune before pointing at him.

"You… want my number?" the girl nodded a few times. Jaune raised an eyebrow, but complied regardless, giving her his number. He received a text from her a moment later, asking if it was him. He responded, of course, with a capital 'NO'. The girl silently giggled before saving his contact as Jaune. Jaune was about to do the same… then he realized he didn't _know_ who the girl was. "Hey, what's your-" he heard his scroll ding. Sure enough, she'd typed out the message 'Lavi Enders' before he could even ask the question. Jaune figured it was something she got asked a lot when things similar to this happened.

"_Thanks for getting me out of there! Sorry if I seem rude but, I'm mute and whoever shoved me in here must've taken the notepad I normally use,_" she texted. Jaune nodded a few times, putting his scroll in his pocket. He grabbed his gear from his locker, Ren realizing he should _probably_ go and do the same. Jaune started changing, forgetting for just a second that the girl was there. In his defense, she didn't make a _sound_ to let him know otherwise -not even _moving_.

He turned after he was already in his gear, realizing he'd changed in front of the red-faced girl a few seconds later. "Uh… did you need something else or…" she started frantically typing out a message, hitting backspace more times than Jaune could _count_ before at last sending it to him. He looked down, raising an eyebrow at what was effectively a lengthy apology, describing -in minute detail- what his torso muscles looked like. "Uhh… apology accepted… I think… I'm sorry this is _really_ weird," he said, being bluntly honest with Lavi.

The blushing girl proceeded to pull up her jacket, covering her face with it before dashing toward the door… only to hit against the lockers on either side until at last dashing through the doorway. "_Okay… not judging yet, she could be a great person,_" he thought. He'd met some people that were -although weird on the outset- genuinely _really_ nice people once you got to know them (such as Ruby and Nora). Heck, he'd _married_ a few across timelines, raised families with them before the world practically ended and he had to start again or go somewhere else… or the ones he destroyed with his time traveling. "_Sorry, Lacey… I hope you ended up well, wherever you went,_" Jaune thought, a pang of regret hitting him as he thought of her.

He turned his attention to Ren, who'd walked around to the front and was currently waiting on him. He put his scroll back in his pocket, dashing up to him. "Ready?" Jaune nodded in response. The two made their way out, Ren looking over to see the girl from before spying on them. Ren tried to point her out but, the moment Jaune turned to look at her she dashed around the corner, leaving just a blur for Jaune to see. "It's that girl from the locker room… mind explaining the story about her?" Ren asked.

Jaune shrugged, "Beats me. She's a mute girl that got shoved in my locker… that's what I get for not putting a lock on it sooner, huh?" Ren gave a faint smile at that. The two walked the rest of the way in silence, stopping at the entrance to one side of the arena. On the other side, they saw Cardin and his team, each of them doing things to pass the time. Cardin was, no surprise, doing pushups on the ground, clapping each time he pushed himself off the ground. Dove was reading a book, and Sky and Russel were discussing… something. Jaune couldn't hear it from where he was.

It took Ruby and Nora about a minute to get out there, but even then Ruby made _no_ move to go inside yet. "Okay… we need a game plan going in here, okay?" Ruby said, almost like a question. Her three teammates immediately nodded. Going into _any_ battle they needed a plan -even _Nora_ agreed with that one. Granted, Nora only liked _having_ a plan so she knew what her teammates were doing so she could freely destroy and blow things up without worrying _too_ much about collateral damage. Granted, given she didn't have Magnhild, that second thing wasn't _that_ much of a concern.

"We don't really know much about who we're fighting here… what were you thinking?" Jaune, frankly, preferred going into a battle with a _vague_ semblance of a plan and then winging it from there, thinking on his feet. After all, no plan was going to survive contact with an enemy. He'd learned _that_ the hard way on his first few timelines.

"I'll go in and start breaking the ground so I can throw stuff at them! Then Jaune can use his magic aura thingy and make Ruby _super_ fast! She can stun them so me and Ren can lay the smackdown!"

"That's… actually not a bad idea, Nora. If I amplify your aura enough you could disrupt their formation, then Ren can strike from the left at Russel and Dove while Nora takes on Sky and Cardin. Then we can flank Russel and Dove from the side, take them down, and we all team up to fight Cardin and Sky," Jaune said. Nora was positively _beaming_ at the plan. Even if she had no weapon, she was _more_ than confident she could handle Cardin and Sky. Even if she couldn't, she could at _least_ hold them off until Jaune, Ruby, and Ren dealt with the other two.

Ruby was inclined to agree with Jaune. The plan sounded decent when Jaune phrased it that way… divide and conquer after all. "Yeah… yeah! Let's do it!" Ruby held out her hand… she kept holding it out… she waited… "Guys you're… you're supposed to… nevermind, let's go." she turned back to the arena, somewhat deflated that she hadn't been able to get the 'Go team RNJR!' thing she'd hoped for. The four made their way into the arena, watching team CRDL standing on the other side. Cardin swung his mace over his shoulder, the metal clanging against his armor as he cracked his neck. "Took you long enough, finally ready to fight?" he asked. Jaune lightly elbowed Ruby. She was the leader, let her answer.

"Only if you're ready to fight!"

Ruby pointed at the group, frozen for a few seconds as everyone digested what she just said. "Uhh… yeah, we're… we've _been_ ready we're… waiting on you…" Sky said, letting his guard down slightly. The whole team was rather… confused at that one. Jaune smiled at Ruby's attempt at smack talk, patting her shoulder. Ruby sighed, motioning for Jaune to take the lead in it, asking Cardin to repeat what he said. He did so, rather confused as to where it was going. Jaune, on the other hand, deferred to Ren. Ren got out his weapons, holding them in a combat stance as everyone else did the same:

"Only if you're ready to lose."


	11. Day One: Part Vier

"CHAAAAAAAAAAAARGEEEE!"

"What… was that the plan?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow as Nora charged head-first at the four _very_ unprepared huntsmen. Jaune slowly shook his head, running a hand over his face before dashing in with crocea mors. He _knew_ better he… he _knew_ better than the trust Nora to make a plan and then _actually_ stick to/follow it through.

Yet here he was, improvising again.

"Ruby, dash between them and leave them attacking the dust! Ren, follow me!" Jaune dashed ahead, Ruby sprinting between them, giving each a playful wave before disappearing, leaving their attacks spitting up dirt.

Jaune and Ren -meanwhile- dashed for Cardin. "Ren! Springboard!" Jaune sliced at Cardin, letting himself fall on his back. Ren understood the gesture/order, dashing forward before leaping off Jaune's back, kneeing the taller hunter in the face.

Cardin rolled with the blow, swinging his mace up to block Ren's blade strikes. He took a step back, shifting his footing before swinging Ren over his shoulder, the lighter hunter flying toward his pancake-loving friend.

Nora noticed, turning and wrapping her arms around one of Ren's, acting as an anchor while he spun and delivered a dropkick to Sky's cheek. Unlike his leader, Sky didn't roll with the punch, sending him to the ground, aura plummeting into the red.

"Nice save," Ren said, the couple dashing at Dove. Said hunter leaned back, blade diagonal across his torso as Nora struck.

Rather than try to out-force the Valkyrie (a move that would be borderline suicide for any but the most powerful of huntsmen -or Yang) Dove obeyed his namesake, diving to the ground and kicking Nora off to the side.

Ren struck both blades against Dove's sword, his guns aimed right at his armor. Dove froze, the gun of his own sword aimed right at Ren's chest. Blue eyes met magenta as the two stared each other down, each daring the other to make the first move.

"GET OFF OF HIM!:

Until that is, Nora made it for them.

Dove jumped back, both he and Ren firing at one another as a slab of concrete flew where they just were, slamming right next to Ruby. The girl yelped, staggering away from the flying debris before glaring at Nora. "Watch where you throw that!" if Nora responded, Ruby didn't have time to hear.

All she heard was the familiar sound of metal against metal, the whisper of Russel's twin daggers over her throat. "Gotcha," Russel smirked down at her, only to find he was suddenly smirking at a small collection of rose petals.

"What the fu-"

**BONG!**

Jaune stood over him, shield in hand as he saw his aura dip down into the red. He turned his attention to the largest threat on the field -actually no, no that was Nora. It didn't matter whose side she was on, she was the biggest threat on the field to _everyone._ Even the people in the _audience_ if there were any.

Cardin and Jaune stared each other down, both slowly approaching. Jaune held his shield high, sword pointing into it the way he'd done it countless times before. Yet still, it was wrong. His muscles weren't quite molded the way he normally had them, leaving his stance slightly lopsided.

Cardin noticed this, charging forward without ever changing his blank expression. Jaune just waited, lowering himself to the ground and holding his shield higher. He forced himself not to move as Cardin leaped into the air, eyes zeroing in, mace high above his head as he prepared to strike the killing blow.

Jaune let him.

Jaune let himself fall, his shield (and aura) absorbing the impact as he pulled himself back, using his momentum to flip Cardin over, sending his skull into the ground. Cardin recovered quickly, dashing back and glancing down at his scroll (set to show the aura of himself and his teammates).

"You're almost red Cardin. Sky and Russel are already down. This fight's over," Jaune said, leaning back slightly. He frowned as he looked at the large aura-board near the edge of the arena. He'd been too cautious. His aura hadn't even dipped below ninety-_nine_ yet… though, all things considered, he hadn't _actually_ been hit all that much in the first place. He might be able to swing this.

Cardin shook his head, watching Dove dodge his way around Nora (not that hard) and Ren (_much_ more difficult) to finally return to his side. The two stared down their four opponents, both well aware they couldn't win.

"This isn't over until we can't fight anymore."

Dove turned to Cardin, eyes glossing over the team for a moment before he nodded, "Defeat in detail?" Cardin nodded in kind, both gunning for Ren. The stone-cold ninja didn't move a muscle, only lowering himself to the ground as Nora stood beside him. Jaune dashed in from the side, ready to catch the two in an impromptu pincer trap.

Then they vanished in a cloud of feathers.

"Huh? Where'd they- AH!" Ruby fell, Dove appearing behind her in a burst of feathers, his blade sliding along crescent rose. Cardin appeared behind Ren and Nora, slamming his mace between the two before disappearing again.

Jaune dashed to Ruby, striking at Dove only for him to vanish, a heavy blow to his back sending him skidding across the arena floor. He stood, just in time to see Cardin slam his mace against Ruby's side, sending her into one of Dove's blade strikes.

Even _Ren_ wasn't fast enough to react, firing bullets into thin air as the two kept disappearing. Nora just started punching every inch of air she could find, Ren watching Ruby as Jaune made his way to her.

"Ruby! You okay?"

"Owieee… it's like Signal all over again."

Jaune didn't question his sudden urge to turn around. It was one of the best things he'd learned over his many years of being alive: _always_ trust your instincts. So it was that his shield came up, Cardin's invisible mace suddenly slamming down on it.

Jaune struck back _hard_, slicing across Cardin's armor before kicking him back, the taller man disappearing into another pile of feathers. Jaune stood, eyes flicking to the aura screens above the arena. His, Nora's, and Ren's aura's were in varying states of green at the top, with Ruby in bright yellow beneath them, Dove in slowly-declining-yellow below her, then Cardin in _very_ dark orange, ending off with Russel and Sky in the red.

"Aim for Dove! He's the one making them disappear!" Jaune shouted, standing over Ruby. They were going after her -attack the weakest target first he guessed. She was also _technically_ the team leader, so they might be going for morale -even though both _knew_ they couldn't win.

Predictably, after Jaune said that it was only Cardin that would appear, taking cheap shots at Ren and Ruby while Dove stayed defended in his illusioned corner of the arena. Ruby, of course, took that as a sign Jaune had definitely _not_ thought that one through.

"Shouting that out loud _might_ have been a bad idea…" Ruby muttered, her back against Jaune's as she loaded another clip into crescent rose. Jaune shook his head, smiling at the aura screen above. While it wasn't as _fast_ as hitting him, forcing Dove to keep himself concealed _permanently_ instead of letting him come out of it when he and Cardin attacked was draining his aura quite a bit faster.

"Don't worry. All we have to do is take out Cardin, then Dove has nowhere to run," Jaune said. Of course, such a task was easier _said_ than done. With Cardin only appearing maybe once every five seconds, always in a seemingly unrelated spot in the arena, pinning down a spot he would strike next was _not_ going to be easy.

"Jaune," Ruby piped up, "I have a plan."

"I like where this is going."

"It involves Nora."

"I do _not_ like where this is going."

"Nora! Throw concrete… EVERYWHERE!" Ruby ducked behind Jaune as soon as she shouted it, Nora's eyes sparkling with glee as she slammed her hands into the ground, chucking concrete left and right. Her hands were a blur as Jaune hunkered down, slamming his shield into the ground as concrete flew overhead.

"You just _had_ to encourage her, didn't you?" Jaune asked, giving Ruby a faint glare. Ruby just sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, giving a nervous little chuckle as Ren jumped over the shield, hunkering just behind Ruby.

Cardin emerged from a burst of feathers just behind Nora, swinging his mace at her head. Though, unlike what Cardin _expected_ to happen (that being either for her to roll with it or dodge it), Nora _grabbed_ the mace.

The shorter girl smirked at him, yanking his mace toward her before delivering a haymaker to his face. At that Cardin's aura was in the red, and the only one still standing was the vanishing Dove himself.

Nora seemed determined to just keep throwing concrete, thinking she'd _eventually_ hit Dove if she threw enough of them. Everyone else was opting for the 'stay down so Nora doesn't hit you with a flying block of concrete' approach.

"This girl is _nuts_!"

Ren, Ruby, and Jaune (in that order) turned around, raising an eyebrow as they saw their opponent effectively using the three of them as a barrier between himself and Nora. The four looked at each other for a second before Ren and Dove drew their weapons, firearms aimed at one another as Ruby rested her rifle on Ren's shoulder.

Dove frowned as he squeezed the hilt of his blade, "Worth a try." Dove fired off a round, knocking Ren back slightly, throwing off Ruby's aim as he charged forward. Jaune turned, grabbing Ruby's shoulder before swinging his blade, arcing it over her head before slicing across Dove's chest.

Dove fell back, disappearing into a cloud of feathers once more. This time, Nora was having _none_ of it. She focused her concrete throwing, creating a cone around where she'd last seen dove, going so far as to start scraping _dirt_ in her hands.

"_Goodwitch is NOT going to be happy about this…_" Jaune thought as one of those concrete pieces finally hit something… well, at least they _assumed_ it hit something, based on the sound they could hear and the _large floating piece of concrete_ near the center of the arena.

Nora pounced on it, shattering the concrete with her fists before grabbing what she assumed to be Dove's shoulders, throwing him toward the group. Jaune, Ruby, and Ren all attacked in a line, hoping _one_ of them would hit him.

Considering Ruby was now covered in feathers, it was safe to assume she'd done it.

"WE WON!... NORA THAT MEANS STOP THROWING CONCRETE!" Ruby yelled, diving behind Jaune… _again_, as Nora started throwing concrete around once more -assumingly in celebration this time.

That is until she was suddenly lifted in the air, coated in a faint purple light. Everyone froze, all eyes slowly turning to the blonde huntress glaring down at them, riding crop in hand. Ruby gripped Jaune's arm, suddenly -and quite justifiably- fearing for her life.

Goodwitch slowly made her way down the stairs, everyone -barring Nora- dashing over to their respective teams, standing at attention. As she walked the ground began slowly piecing itself back together, her semblance effectively undoing everything Nora did.

"Aww… there goes all my work…" Nora -as always- didn't _quite_ grasp the situation she was in. Ms. Goodwitch shot her a sideways glare before slowly moving her to her team, looking between the relatively fine (besides being covered in dust and feathers) team RNJR and the battered team CRDL.

"_Who_ is responsible for this unauthorized, unobserved brawl!?"

The teams looked at each other, everyone pointing at a member of the other team.

"IT WAS THEM!"


	12. Jaune's World

Chapter Twelve: Where Time has no Power

***BEEP! BEEP!***

Jaune's hand fell to his side, silencing his scroll in a split second. He looked up, letting out a small sigh of relief Glynda hadn't heard (thankfully). Team RNJR was currently getting grilled (alongside team CRDL) about their unauthorized brawl, with Cardin currently giving his side of the story.

Jaune would give him credit: He hadn't thrown his team under the bus. He was conveniently neglecting to mention _whose_ idea the brawl was, but he hadn't tried to blame them for everything either.

Ruby turned to him, raising an eyebrow and gesturing to his scroll, "Is someone texting you or…" her eyes flashed, hidden meaning unknown to Nora and Ren (who'd rather obviously heard it).

Jaune held out his left hand, right patting his pocket, eyes asking an unspoken question. Ruby looked back to Glynda before she took it, Jaune smiling. For a split second Ruby saw Jaune's hand blur into motion, pulling out his scroll for less than half a second.

When she looked back up, everything was frozen.

The two stood, Jaune looking over his scroll as Ruby leaned up, never once letting go of his hand (he was _not_ just going to disappear and leave her standing there —provided he hadn't already and had just left her none the wiser).

Ruby turned, "What is it? Did someone find one of your spares? Some kind of time-warping thing like that giant squid? Is time about to collapse!?" Ruby's voice got progressively more worried as she rambled on.

Jaune sighed, "Ruby if time _is_ about to collapse, we'd probably never know. This," he held up his scroll, "is nothing to worry about… well, for _you_ to worry about. Sit back down, I'll be back in a blink."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "What is it? Come on, tell me!" she leaned closer, trying to look at his scroll.

Jaune sighed, "Look, it's a problem with my dominion, okay? Happens all the time, I'll be back in about —well actually for _you_ I'll never be gone. Not sure how long it'll take," he muttered.

Ruby finally leaned over enough to see the alert on his scroll, where it showed a notification with the words "BREACH DETECTED" in big, bold letters. There was also a string of words in a language Ruby couldn't read —a number of some kind if she had to guess.

"Can I come with you?"

It was only natural she'd ask.

Jaune shook his head, "Ruby…" his face fell into confusion, "Wait, you aren't going to _ask_ what my dominion is? What the problem _is_?" that… Jaune didn't think it would put him on edge as much as it did.

Ruby giggled, "Weeeell, I don't have to _ask_ if I come with you, right?" she gave her brightest smile, eyes closed as she leaned on his shoulder —amping up her 'adorable factor' as Yang called it as high as she could.

Jaune rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Ruby, this isn't a _field_ _trip_. Dominion breaches are _dangerous_. That squid was a _baby_ compared to the things that show up when the walls are breached. You could _die_!" even through the angry expression, Jaune couldn't hide his concern.

Ruby leaned her head on his shoulder, "But you'd never let that happen, right? If you'll-"

"Oh for —we're wasting time! Hang on!"

Everything went white.

…

Ruby nearly stumbled down a flight of stairs.

An armored hand grabbed the back of her shirt, holding her above the staircase. She looked up, "Woah…" she'd expected some sort of hideout. Maybe a little house like the one he had in Vale, a place with doors leading to different times, this little _breach_ just like dealing with rodents.

She expected a home.

What she saw was a _kingdom_.

Massive, white pillars pierced the sky, windows in each showing glimpses into people's lives. Roads and railways spread out in every direction, stopping only when they reached a large, white dome. She saw large, lumbering suits of armor nearly the size of the pillars slowly patrolling the outer ring, each with a blade in one hand and a shield in the other.

She was turned away a moment later, the tall figure from before carrying her through a massive palace, decorated with white marble and gold everywhere. "I swear, you must have a _deathwish_."

Ruby looked up, mouth hanging open slightly as she saw the man carrying her. He was _easily_ six foot six, short blond hair tucked away beneath an armored helmet, his flesh covered in that of the same quality. Eyes like oceans gazed at her, staring past her eyes and straight to her soul… there was something familiar about those eyes… oddly… caring, too.

"Wait… Jaune!?"

He gave her a familiar smile, "Yes… well, yes and no. This is me at twenty-seven —when I reached peak physical condition. I know you have questions, and I promise I'll answer them _later_. For now," he turned, opening a door and casually tossing her onto a large, king-sized bed, "_Please_, wait for me here."

Ruby watched as he walked out, closing the double-doors behind him. Ruby being Ruby, she immediately tried to open them, only to find they wouldn't budge. She frowned, pushing a few more times before they flung open, revealing a large figure on the other side.

The figure had the body of a man, but the head of a bull. Its body was covered head-to-toe in custom-fitting armor, spikes covering half of it. It swung a mace over its shoulder, slamming it on its shoulder. It towered over Ruby, glaring down at her, "**Stay. Put.**" it growled out.

Ruby gulped, "Okay." she muttered, voice cracking just before the doors slammed shut. She waited a few seconds, not _daring_ to try again before turning around, looking at the room.

It was a rather well-furnished room —not like the rest of the place wasn't. A large, fluffy white bed with silk sheets, poles on all sides with gold-tinted curtains draped between them. On either side, there was a nightstand, each with what looked to be a floating, clear orb over a black base.

Ruby walked over, experimentally tapping the base. Sure enough, the orb lit up, glowing with the same white light as the large bulb on the ceiling. She tapped it again —didn't really need more light anyway— before hovering her hand over the drawers of the nightstand.

She frowned, "_If these are Jaune's things… should I really go through them? I mean, he locked me in here with that really scary guard but… no_." Ruby took her hand back. "_No, no I won't. What else is around here?_" She turned her attention to the walls.

Surprisingly sparse, with only a few candleholders (all with those strange orbs again) on the sides, two windows (with blackout curtains) and a door off to the right. If she had to guess, she'd say it led to a bathroom.

Ruby walked to the window, pulling up the blinds. She raised an eyebrow as she saw the large, black void behind it, "What's the point of windows if they don't look at anything?" she muttered, closing the blinds again.

She turned back, walking to the door hopefully _not_ guarded by an angry minotaur. When she pushed it open, she didn't find a minotaur. Rather, she found a large bathroom. Off to her left, there was… well, she wasn't sure whether it was a bathtub or a hot-tub, given the shape of it. There were two sinks to her right, both with large, wall-mounted mirrors.

She shut the door behind her, looking off to the left again to see a shower separated by a wall from the bathtub, a frosted-glass door covering what looked to be a shower big enough for _four people_… well, provided it had more than two showerheads.

Opposite that, there was a simple toilet, a few packages of toilet paper next to it, along with a plunger. "_Guess even the fanciest toilet still gets stopped up sometimes,_" Ruby thought, a little giggle slipping from her lips as she went to walk out.

On her way, she noticed another door —just to the left of the exit to the bedroom. She walked to it, pulling it open to find a closet with towels and, strangely, a few nightgowns. "Why would Jaune even _have_ these?" she muttered, walking in before grabbing one of said articles. There were almost ten of them, all equally luxurious.

Ruby ran a hand over a cyan one, "So soft… hmmm…" she looked out the door, quite unnecessarily looking both directions before closing the door back. She locked it for good measure, giving a faint shrug, a small smile on her face, "I mean… it's not like he _uses_ them, right? Why not?"

When Ruby walked out of the bathroom, her combat skirt was over her shoulder, her flesh covered in a cyan gown that stretched down just past her knees. She laid her skirt and hood aside, letting herself fall back on the bed. She closed her eyes, "Ahh… I've died and gone to fluffy _heaven_!" she rolled back over, burying her face in the pillow.

As her hands moved beneath the pillow, her finger brushed against something far harder than the 'fluffy heaven' she'd found herself in. She pulled back, a quizzical expression on her face as she moved the pillow over.

Beneath it, she found what looked to be a small pocket watch, just barely the size of her palm. She was about to pick it up when she froze, remembering what happened _last_ time she picked up one of Jaune's things.

"_Okay Ruby, just don't press ANY of the buttons! Okay, Ruby…? Uh, Ruby? Wait, I'M Ruby, why am I waiting on an answer?_" She giggled… good thing nobody could hear that. She took the watch in her palm, examining it like it was a ticking time-bomb —which it could've _been_ for all she knew.

It was a simple thing, really. Gently pulling it open revealed a clock face with that same crest that was on Jaune's shield in the center. On the right, there was an engraving: _tempus edax rerum_.

Ruby raised an eyebrow, letting her finger trace over the words, "_What's that supposed to mean? Is that some… uh, why's it —OH NO NOT AGAIN!_" Ruby dropped the pocket watch, scrambling back as the words started glowing white. She would _not_ be sent hurling through time again! Not on her own!

Though, it seemed the watch had other plans. It slowly rose from the bed, glowing all the while. Ruby gulped, jumping off the bed and pounding on the door. Her hand had only hit it twice when she turned, eyes wide as a brilliant, white light flew from the watch, heading straight for her.

She dashed out of the way, hoping it would slam against the doors. Instead, it turned to chase her, slamming into her back before she could react to stop it. She looked down, heart racing, breath quickening as she saw her hands turning white, squeezing her eyes shut.

"_Pleeeeease don't send me somewhere I can't get back from!_"

…

"CHAAARGE!"

Jaune screamed as he slammed his blade down, a wave of his aura destroying a horde of the abominations before him. The thousands of black skulls, all attached like roots to a large monster near the center of the crack —one currently battling it out with one of his guardians (the giant suits of armor). The beast looked like a tree coated in ink that had uprooted itself, a horrifying and ever-changing face carved into its stump.

"Master!" Gamor shouted, suplexing one of the more autonomous beasts (this one similar to a highly distorted beowolf). Jaune made his way to him, cutting through more of the root-monsters.

When he finally got there, he slammed his blade into the ground, creating a bubble about ten-feet wide. The beasts either ran around it or were incinerated by Jaune's aura. "What is it, Gamor?" he asked, trying to deviate his focus and keep the field up.

Gamor frowned, slamming a hand through the field to kill a smaller demon before turning back to Jaune, "The girl you brought, Master. The Minotaur tells me she found the watch."

Jaune's eyes widened as he drew his sword, aura gathering around him in a glowing circle. If Ruby found the watch, a few things could happen —_none_ of them good. "No more messing around… Gamor! Pull back the guards! I'm killing this thing!" he pointed to the large beast.

Gamor nodded, never questioning his master as he blinked out of existence, disappearing into a higher plane of time that even _Jaune_ couldn't see.

Speaking of, the man was currently charging through the horde, entire body emitting a blinding glow as he drew power from the very world around him, many of the city's lights fading to black. He held back his blade, white fire flowing down the side as he charged.

Suddenly he was a blur, time dilating around him as he dragged the blade through the ground, creating a massive hemisphere around the creature, stopping only at the dome. When it was done, he slammed his blade into the ground, "Here's hoping I can still stand!"

The hemisphere surged inward, Jaune's aura almost all expended in an effort to kill the invaders. The wave surged up the massive root-monsters body, a screeching flying from them as it consumed her, tearing her down molecule by molecule.

In the blink of an eye, it was over. The barrier was fixed, the invaders destroyed, and Jaune was… ten. He looked down, frowning at his smaller hands as his armor clanged around him, glowing white and flying into him, aging him up to twelve.

He looked back at the barrier, smiling as he saw it melding with the rest, the crack fixed. "Man… had to use so much I de-aged myself… maybe went a little overboard," he muttered the last sentence, turning back to the city.

He had just thought of calling Gamor when he appeared, holding out his hands. Jaune smiled, "Read my mind." he nearly winced at his now higher voice, the voice of a young man yet to go through puberty. It'd been a few centuries since he'd heard it —given he so rarely traveled back to points where he existed _and_ was under sixteen.

He hopped into Gamor's arms, the taller creature seemingly teleporting to his home, the minotaur bowing before the door he'd left Ruby in. He casually hopped down, walking up to the beast.

"Forgive-"

Jaune put a hand on the minotaur's head, smiling at him, "It's okay, Miko. Head to the barracks, Gamor and I will deal with this."

The beast nodded, standing up and slowly walking off to the left. Jaune, meanwhile, pushed on the doors. "Huh… Ruby? Do you have these locked for a reason?" he yelled out. No answer. Then again, she _probably_ didn't recognize the voice.

Jaune pushed again, focusing as the doors came open (it _was_ his room after all) and immediately understood why. When they'd first arrived, he'd tossed Ruby in as a fifteen-year-old girl, while he was a twenty-seven-year-old man. Coming back, _he_ was a child.

And Ruby was _definitely_ a woman.

If it weren't for the silver eyes, he likely wouldn't have recognized her. Her hair was longer, down well past her shoulders —that's where the highlights started too, funnily enough. She was clad in a cyan nightgown (one Jaune was somewhat glad he hadn't tossed away yet), but it _clearly_ wasn't made for someone her size.

The gown only came down to her mid-thigh (given her blushing face and her hunching forward, it was rather obvious she was embarrassed by it), and exposed a fair amount of her newly acquired cleavage.

She'd taken after her sister when it came to growth. Her hips were a few inches wider, her bust a bit smaller than Yang's, and a behind that put her sister's to shame (not that Jaune spent a lot of time looking at it… at least this go around).

Despite all this, the real shocker came when she looked up (Ruby being Ruby, she'd been looking at the ground in embarrassment). The brilliant eyes, the fuller lips, the little button-nose. Ruby wasn't _cute_ like this.

She was _gorgeous_.

She gave a nervous chuckle, "Oh! Hey, um… little boy…" her voice was just as nervous, but it was deeper now. More smooth. "I uh… have you seen a tall man in white armor recently? I kinda-"

Jaune held up his hand to silence her, "Ruby, it's me. You touched the pocket watch beneath the covers, didn't you?" he gave her a stern glare, one that was _definitely_ not helped by how small and young he was.

Ruby looked at him for a few seconds before dashing forward, squealing as she pulled him into a hug, nearly smothering him in her chest as she swung him around, "Oh my _gosh_ you're so _cute_! Wook at those widdle dimples!" she poked said dimples, Jaune gently pushing her hand away.

Ruby sat back on the bed, Jaune moving off her and grabbing the pocket watch from its place beneath his pillow… or where his pillow _would_ be anyway (Ruby had apparently let it fall to the ground). He frowned as he tapped the letters, hand pulling back a bit as a white orb flew over his palm.

He sighed, "Great. Five years' worth of time energy used… on… Ruby?"

"Hmm?"

"Please stop braiding my hair."

Ruby didn't take her hands away for a second, and Jaune slightly regretted having longer hair when he was young (his sisters would do the same thing… should've seen that coming). He turned around, Ruby smiling down at him as he held the pocket watch up to her face.

"Hold on, I'll just transfer the five years-"

"Wait!"

Ruby moved back, holding up her hands. Jaune raised an eyebrow… what was she doing?

Ruby answered by leaning closer, "Our time is frozen, isn't it?" Jaune nodded. Ruby blushed harder, "So… could I stay like this for a bit? Just for a night here?"

Jaune sighed, "Ruby that's —the number of things _wrong_ with your request is honestly too many to count. For one thing, there's no _night_ here! There's not even _time_ here! It just _is_! And another thing —we can't just _stop_ being in our own time! Even when it's frozen there are _still_ problems with staying… Ruby? Ruby are you even _listening_!?"

Ruby had turned around, pouting as she gently prodded at her covered behind, "Maybe Yang's right about the cookies going straight to my butt…"

"RUBY! HAND ON WATCH! NOW!"

Ruby jumped back, tumbling off the bed as she saw a flame shoot up from Jaune's… everything (aura), nearly scorching her (well, really it wouldn't _do_ anything, but she didn't need to know that). She staggered back to the door, whimpering as Jaune got up.

Jaune looked at her for a moment and… "Ruby are you… Ruby, the puppy dog eyes don't _work_ when you're… they… they don't…" Jaune looked away, forcing himself not to immediately give in to her demands. How did she get a sexy body _and_ keep her adorableness!? _How!?_

Jaune groaned, "Why do you even _want_ to stay like that?"

Ruby's eyes trailed to the ground, lightly playing with the edge of her gown, "It… it's just so… _weird_ and… and _tingly_. I kinda like it…" she gave a little smile, and at that moment Jaune knew what to do.

He looked down the hallway, "Gamor!" he blinked, and he was there. He held out the watch, Gamor taking it in his hands as Jaune drained power from him, aging himself _just_ past the age Ruby would be at, putting him at twenty.

He turned to face her, smiling that he was now taller, "I'll make you a deal, okay? I'm going to call one of the tailors, they'll get you some clothes that _fit_, and we'll talk. I'll answer your questions, and while we're talking, you get to stay like that. When we're done, you give it up and we _leave_, alright?"

Ruby leaped and shouted in excitement.

Then fell flat on her butt.

"Guessing that's a 'yeah' and an 'ow', right?"

"Yeah… ow…"


	13. Tailor and Time

Chapter Thirteen: Tailor and Time

Ruby was having a weird day.

It wasn't necessarily a _bad_ day —just a weird one. Over the course of the day she'd led her team to victory in a fight, managed to get herself aged up to 20, discovered Jaune had a secret time-kingdom-thing he'd not told her about _and_ had seen creatures she thought didn't even exist.

At the moment, she was wearing what she guessed was a winter coat over her nightgown as Jaune led her through the strangely empty streets, heading for a small building just a few blocks from the palace in the center.

When they reached it, Ruby had the odd feeling that she should take her shoes off (despite the fact that she wasn't actually _wearing_ any). The place was organized to the point of being unnerving —even the few _plants_ looked to be completely trimmed and organized properly.

Jaune shut the door behind them, "Give it a few seconds, they should be out in-"

"Who's there?"

Ruby looked up, eyes widening as she saw the woman walking down the staircase. She was clad in a pair of skinny jeans, a white sweater covering her torso that blended almost perfectly with her hair.

A tape measure was draped around her neck, annoyed blue eyes gazing at the two… "Is that Weiss? Wait, but… how is she _here_?" Ruby asked, more questions piling onto the pile she was going to ask Jaune when she got dressed.

The older woman looked down, eyes widening a bit as she saw Jaune and Ruby. Then she groaned, "Not _another_ one! I'm running out of red fabric to clothe all these dolts you keep bringing in!" she glared at Jaune, the older man only shrugging.

"Wait… _others_? There are _more_ of me here?"

Weiss sighed, "You have _no_ idea. I swear all I've made in the last two _millennia_ is cloaks! Red cloaks! That's all they ever _care_ about!" she turned to Jaune, "Why do you always bring _me_ the Ruby's? Why not take them to one of the other tailors? I'm pretty sure one of the Ruby's _is_ a tailor now! Why not her!?"

Jaune chuckled, "I bring everyone to you. I don't control who the rescue teams bring out of the dying branches. Take it up with them." he gestured outside.

Weiss glared at him, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind… anyway," she took a breath, "What's the story with this one? A recent acquisition from a destroyed time tree? A death that was supposed to happen that you circumvented? What am I dealing with?"

"Visitor."

Weiss blinked a few times, eyes blank… then she slowly sat on the nearby stairstep. "Twenty-thousand years… I've been here twenty-thousand years, and you've _never_ brought someone here as a visitor…"

Ruby pulled the coat closer, her face turning the same red as her hair… she'd known she was something of a rare thing for Jaune but… twenty-thousand _years_!? He'd been alive _that_ long and never _once_ brought someone with him on a visit!?

"What's going on?"

Ruby and Jaune turned, watching another woman walk down the stairs. This one was clad in a fitting green kimono. Long, black hair —with a single pink stripe along the back —flowed down to her waist, pink eyes looking at Weiss before turning to the others.

Weiss stood, standing a bit straighter before coughing, "Lily! Sorry, did I wake you? I know it's been a few-"

Weiss stopped, seeing the small smile on the newly named Lily's face. She shook her head, "I was already awake. Jeanne called to say she'll be coming in a few hours to have us fix her hoodie… again…" Lily sighed, yawning as she rubbed at her eyes.

Weiss frowned, eyes hardening as she casually swept the taller girl off her feet. When Lily immediately rubbed against Weiss's neck (prompted said ice queen to blush) she started walking up the stairs, "Come on, let's get you to bed," she looked back at her customer, "I'll be with you in a moment."

They disappeared up the stairs, leaving Jaune to wait for the inevitable torrent of questions Ruby would no doubt ask.

He didn't have to wait long.

"So… there are _more_ of me? More of Weiss? More of… whoever Lily is?"

"You'd know her better as Ren."

Ruby's next question died on her lips, replaced with a more pressing one: "There's a girl version of Ren here?"

Jaune chuckled, "Ruby, there's a girl and guy version of everyone _somewhere_. Every timeline is a little different —not _everything_ stays the same. Sometimes certain people are different genders than they were last time. Or sometimes people have different skills or interests. It's…" Jaune frowned, trying to think of an easy way to explain it.

He snapped (his fingers), "Think of it like a… you know what a sonic boom is, right?" Ruby nodded.

"Well… wait —that doesn't help at all… hmm…"

Jaune frowned, "Think of it like… a pond! But it's also a tree! Every different outcome is another branch on the tree-pond, but whenever someone does something that makes ripples —like me traveling through it —everything's changed. Not much, but enough to get some _really_ different timelines than the first time around."

Jaune took a breath, "Does that make sense?"

His response was a blank stare.

He sighed, "I knew you'd do that… Ruby, I'm _trying_ here, but I don't know _how_ to explain some of these things in a way you'll understand. It's just… it's… weird and… complicated." Jaune stumbled through his words, trying to think of something that at least made _sense_ for how time travel worked.

Ruby frowned, laying a hand on Jaune's shoulder, "No, it's okay. I think I get it… so if in one branch I put my hand on your shoulder, in another I didn't, right?"

Jaune smiled, "Yeah… well, in a branch anyway. We're kind of outside of… well, _all_ of it right now. Weiss said twenty-thousand years, but she still _looks_ twenty. This place exists outside of time itself… about the only place for people like Weiss."

Ruby slid to the ground as Jaune did the same, a faint smile on his face as his eyes drifted to somewhere else (or some_time_ else… hard to tell with him). "This place… whenever I converted Gamor and we made the barrier, the _first_ thing I did was start bringing in people from the dying branches. But…" he looked down, squeezing his hand as the smile fell.

"It's never enough… there are _millions_ of people here but… it's just never enough. We can never get everyone… never enough _time_…" he gave Ruby a wry smile, "How's that for irony, huh? The time traveler running out of time?"

Ruby didn't join Jaune's humorless laugh, "Why did you come to mine?" that was something that didn't make sense to her. Jaune had this place, could go into dying timelines (which she assumed hers wasn't) and rescue as many people as he needed… why come to hers?

Jaune sighed, "I keep thinking I can stop it… keep thinking I can stop _her_ from doing what she always does…" he shook his head, "I never have… so many timelines and… _never_…"

Ruby wrapped her arms around Jaune, pulling him into a hug against her shoulder. Jaune reciprocated it, wrapping an arm around Ruby, laying his head against her shoulder.

"Who?"

"Someone I hope you'll never meet."

Jaune looked down, blue eyes meeting silver as Ruby leaned up slightly, their foreheads nearly touching, "Are you okay?"

Jaune looked down, face slowly burning as he looked away, realizing what he was looking at. Ruby, of course, was oblivious… at first. When she looked down and noticed where her body was pressed against Jaune's arm… well, suffice to say her face matched his a moment later.

"Alright, Lily's a… sleep."

The blushing duo turned to see Weiss slowly making her way down the stairs, freezing just before reaching them. Her eyes flicked between the two, her face tinting pink as she wondered just what she'd walked in on.

Jaune broke from his stupor first, standing up as Ruby followed suit, "I'll leave it to you, Weiss. Get her something she'll like."

Weiss smiled, "What time is this one from?"

"17."

Weiss nodded, taking Ruby's wrist and guiding her back through the house, past countless paintings and decorations before at last arriving in a meticulously kept craft-room. Mannequins in all manners of dress were all perfectly spaced about the room, many with names stitched onto their foreheads.

Weiss went straight to the 'Ruby' one, tapping on the name a few times. It started glowing, the other mannequins suddenly replaced with similar ones, now all with Ruby's name on them and each with a different style of dress.

Weiss turned to her, "Since you're a Ruby, I'll assume you like a lot of black and red, right?"

"How did you-"

Weiss held up a hand, gesturing to the many mannequins with the word 'Ruby' stitched on, "Kid, I've been doing this for _millennia_. In case it wasn't obvious, you aren't exactly the _first_ Ruby I've had to deal with."

Ruby slowly nodded, letting Weiss guide her to the center of the room before the woman whistled, a chair flying toward them. Ruby sat down at Weiss's urging, watching the woman seemingly fly around the room, pulling outfits from the mannequins before shaking her head. She wasn't sure _when_ Weiss managed to slip the coat off of her, exposing the cyan gown.

Ruby waited until she stopped moving (and that took _quite_ a while) before finally asking a question, "How many Ru-"

"Five-hundred. Minimum."

Ruby's eyes widened.

"That's only the girl one's like you. If you mean older ones it's more like two thousand."

Ruby's mouth opened a bit.

"Even though the male ones are usually named Garnet, I guess you could count those too… so about four thousand."

Her jaw hit the _floor_ at that one.

Weiss frowned at a dark-red dress in her arms, "What do you think of this? This is a '470 BA' style dress —so to you, it probably looks rather old fashioned. Still, might be fitting to have in a new body."

Ruby looked over it, noticing the large frills, the long sleeves. She shook her head, "No thanks… what did you call it? An era 470 BA? What's that mean exactly?"

Weiss tossed the dress aside, walking around as Ruby turned her head to watch, "Time doesn't exactly work the way you understand it out here. The present to one person could be years in the past to another. So, we came up with the 'Arc' system to help avoid confusion."

Weiss pulled what looked like a black duster, "This one's a bit more recent —more and era 320 BA. This is just the duster —though if you believe some of the girls downtown-" Weiss rolled her eyes "this may as well be the whole thing."

Ruby shook her head, "What's the 'Arc' system?" Ruby asked as Weiss tossed away the duster, ignoring a few more mannequins before tapping on one of their foreheads, each mannequins' outfit changing to things more similar to Ruby's normal clothes.

Weiss grabbed a long, red, silk dress, "The 'Arc' system is a unified way to tell time that's based on something that doesn't change: Jaune. I asked Jaune what year you were from, and he said '17', so that means in your time he's seventeen years old. Anything before or after is either BA —before Arc — or AA —after Arc."

Ruby ran a hand along the silk, smiling at the soft feel to it, "Okay… mind if I try this one on?"

Weiss slowly shook her head, a faint smile on her face, "I've been waiting for millennia for a Ruby that _doesn't_ ask that question… _yes_ is the answer, by the way. Since you're going to ask anyway. There's a changing room just down the hall —since unless you're like the 470 AA Ruby, you won't want to change in front of me."

Ruby frowned, "What's the-"

"Don't ask."

Weiss tapped on one of the mannequins again, its clothes shifting into a black pair of underwear with a red rose emblem along the rear, along with a similarly colored bra. "Given you'll need underwear too, I'm assuming you'd like something more 25ish, right? The cookie print 9's aren't going to do you any favors."

Ruby's face went red as she nodded, watching Weiss slip the underwear and matching bra from the mannequin before handing them to her, motioning her down the hall.

Ruby followed the woman's gesture, eyes flicking to some of the many… many… _many_ pictures hung up everywhere —honestly, it was hard to tell what color the wall _was_ with so many. Most of them looked to be of her and Lily —a few with them working on dresses, a few of them talking with Jaune.

One, in particular, got Ruby to stop. She took a step closer, frowning as she saw… well, _her_. Three of her, to be exact. The picture was of three 'hers' standing in the room she'd just been in, each of them with slight variations.

The one on the left was shorter, seemingly younger than the other two. It looked like Ruby when she was maybe twelve. She was clad in a beowolf jumpsuit, held in the arms of another Ruby.

The middle one —holding the smallest one —had an eyepatch with her rose emblem over it, a bright red cloak covering an outfit that had some slight modifications compared to the one she wore in the present.

The last one looked vaguely like her mother —though the red cloak kind of gave away it was her. Beneath that cloak she was wearing a simple white sweater, a cup of what Ruby guessed was hot chocolate and/or coffee in her hands. She had a larger bust than the other two, comparable to the one Ruby currently had —well, thanks to Jaune's time-watch-thing anyway.

"_Is that what I'll look like when I get older?_" Ruby thought, finally turning from the photo and going into the dressing room. It was… _weird_, seeing someone who looked so much like her —that _was_ her in a sense.

The dressing room was a bit less covered in pictures than the hallway outside. The walls were mostly white, the only objects in the room a small bench and a full-body mirror opposite each other.

She stripped down, laying the gown she'd been wearing on the bench. She pulled on the underwear before looking up, gazing into the mirror. Her face went red at the tall figure within —one she had a hard time believing was her. She even slightly moved her hands, making sure it was a mirror and not some kind of painting.

Sure enough, it moved with her. That sexy, underwear-clad woman wasn't someone in an Atlesian fashion magazine —that was _her_. "Still find it so hard to believe it's _real_…" Ruby muttered, slipping into the silk dress.

She'd been thinking like that a lot lately. Since the moment she'd _met_ Jaune she'd been thinking like that. Every time she closed her eyes she thought she'd wake up that morning, hear her father calling her downstairs, and complain about Yang using the hot water —just like always.

"How's it-"

"Ah! Don't look!"

Despite being fully clothed, Ruby covered herself over anyway as Weiss walked in, the older girl shaking her head. "You know, the Blake, Pyrrha, Ren —hell even _Yang_ variants usually have some personality differences. So how is it _every _Ruby is embarrassed when someone walks in on her?" the slight smile on her face offset the angry tone.

Ruby gulped, looking at herself in the mirror. The dress was certainly _comfortable_… but given she could see her underwear plain as day, she wasn't sure if it was _practical_. "Umm… I don't know about this…"

Weiss shrugged, "Not much for showing off then, noted. Hmm… sit down," Ruby complied, "Now give me some ideas. What do you normally like doing? Who _are_ you?"

Ruby looked at the ground, "Well I uh… I like strawberries. Cookies too —cookies with strawberries in them are amazing… umm I… I'm a huntress! I like hunting grimm, using crescent rose… video games! Video games are fun too! Um… what else…"

Weiss chuckled, "More help than the last Ruby at least. I'll be right back." at that she walked away, leaving Ruby in a somewhat revealing dress, waiting for the designer to return.

It took her maybe a minute, walking back in with something _very_ different from Ruby's current attire. Rather than a nearly see-through silk dress, Weiss came back with something far more modest.

In her hands was a light green button-down, just over a somewhat long beige skirt. Weiss handed them to Ruby, "Here. If you normally dress for action, I think these might be a nice change of pace for you."

Weiss walked out the door before Ruby could ask, the younger girl slipping out of the dress before pulling on the clothes. Definitely less comfortable, but also _far_ less revealing. The skirt came up to her belly button and ended right at her knees, tied with a brown string between two darker frills.

The shirt would've been completely against her normally —though given her larger figure she _was_ showing a bit of cleavage. She gave a twirl, smiling as she looked in the mirror. The clothes weren't exactly combat-ready… but for once, Ruby was fine with that.

She draped the gown over her arm before walking out, seeing Weiss leaning against the nearby archway, "Like them?" her answer was a nod.

Weiss nodded, "I thought so. One more thing," she walked around the corner, coming back with a black purse with a brilliant red rose emblem on the side, "I'd _planned_ on giving that to the last Ruby that came in, but she didn't want it. You might as well have it —matches your hair."

Ruby smiled, "Thank you. So… what now?"

Weiss shrugged, the two walking into Weiss's room with all the mannequins. She'd just tapped a few of their foreheads when Ruby spoke up, "What's up with these mannequins' anyway? How do they… well, do _that_?" she said as one shifted to a black hoodie much like Jaune's.

Weiss chuckled, "Right, year seventeen… if you want to know, I'd talk to year 6230 Weiss. All I could tell you is they use… think it was something about a 'Kugelblitz' —whatever that is. I'm year 20 —my _grandchildren_ wouldn't have seen things like this."

Ruby nodded a few times, "Okay… thanks again!" she waved at Weiss before making her way back through the home, finding Jaune sitting perfectly motionless, his eyes closed as he seemingly meditated.

Ruby crept closer, stopping only when he turned to face her —eyes still closed. When they opened, he gave her a faint smile, "That's a good look for you."

Ruby's face tinted pink as she looked away, giving a nervous giggle as Jaune stood. He looked behind her for a second before his smile widened, "Wondering what a 'kugelblitz' is, right?"

"Yeah… and a lot of other stuff…"

Jaune chuckled, gently taking Ruby's hand, "Well, I'll answer whatever I can. Follow me."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, "Where are we going?"

"Nowhere… well, I don't _plan_ to go anywhere anyway."

Ruby slowly nodded, turning her attention to the streets around her. In a weird way, it reminded her of Vale. Kids playing in the streets, people walking by on the sidewalk —some occasionally giving Jaune and her a friendly wave —the only way it was really different was the fact that the buildings were _far_ larger… and, you know, the sky was _white_.

"So," Ruby started, looking up to see Jaune turn to her, "What exactly _is_ this place? I know you said we're outside of time but… what _is_ it really?"

Jaune scratched his chin for a moment, lost in thought as they walked along the sidewalk.

He answered a minute later, "Well.. originally it was sort of like a refugee camp —a place for the people whose timelines were destroyed. Now though… well, it's more like an ageless city. Time doesn't move here, so no one ever ages without meaning too… well, except you."

Ruby frowned, "So _I'll_ age here, but no one else will?"

"Did you _mean_ to age yourself up five years?"

Ruby's face suddenly matched her namesake, her eyes finding the ground _very_ interesting. Jaune chuckled, laying a hand on her shoulder and pulling her slightly to keep up with him.

Jaune looked to the sky, "When me and Gamor first made this place, I _never_ thought it would get this big…" he gave Ruby a bright smile, "Just goes to show that even _I_ can't tell you everything about the future."

Ruby giggled, "Yeah… how old is this city, exactly?" if there was any question she wanted answers —and there were _many_ —that was a big one. If Weiss had been here for twenty _thousand_ years, how old was the city itself?

"The city or the dome?"

"Wait, what?"

Jaune sighed, "The city itself has been here longer than any human has been alive. The _dome_ is something me and Gamor made to make it habitable for normal humans. _That_ was made… hmm, let's see I first turned Gamor in… time doesn't really work that way so… hmm…" Jaune looked in the air, eyes lost in memory.

Eventually, he turned to look at Ruby, "I wish I could tell you… actually, I wish I _knew_ how to tell you this. The oldest residents here have been around for _maybe_ 100,000 years? Even that's a rough estimate. The dome's older but… can't really say how _much_…" Jaune scratched his chin.

Ruby slowly nodded… after the 'twenty thousand years' thing from Weiss, she wasn't even shocked anymore. He could say it was a _billion_ years old and she wouldn't be surprised (okay, maybe a _little_ surprised).

"Anything else?"

"Why were the gowns there?"

Jaune's brows furrowed at her, eyes widening a bit as he realized what she was talking about. Then he raised one, "Really? You've seen _so_ much —Gamor, Miko, Weiss, the _City_ —and you care about the dressing gowns?"

Ruby nodded, "I kind of want a more mundane answer so —you know —my brain doesn't melt in the next five seconds… so where did they come from? Did someone leave them there? Are they yours?"

Jaune frowned, "Ruby, _none_ of those gowns would even fit me. _Why_ would they be mine?"

Ruby shrugged, "I've seen weirder things today —I _am_ a weirder thing today."

Jaune sighed, running a hand through his hair, "If you must know, they belong to my wife… well, they _did_ anyway…" he trailed off, looking at one of the nearby buildings.

Ruby put a hand on his shoulder, "I… thought I was the first person you brought here. Did you bring someone else?"

Jaune shook his head, "You're the first I brought to _Weiss_… you're the first that made it out of the palace…" He muttered the last part, but Ruby heard regardless.

Ruby gulped, "Uhh… what do you mean 'made it out of the palace'? Are your a… guards really protective or…" She trailed off, not sure if she wanted to know the answer.

Jaune took Ruby's hand, looking over it for a moment before turning his gaze to her face, "I've brought people that were important to me here before… that's why those gowns are just sitting there now."

Jaune stepped back, "When someone whose timeline is still _intact_ comes here and the timeline keeps going, they just… disappear. The first time I brought someone in, I couldn't do anything but _watch_ as she just… faded away…"

Jaune leaned against a nearby wall, gripping his hands into fists as Ruby leaned against his side. Ruby frowned, "So… that's why you stopped time with me? So it wouldn't happen?"

He shook his head, "That didn't stop it, Ruby. I just delayed it. A few days, maybe. Long enough for me to deal with the breach and for us to _leave_."

Ruby froze, "So… I'm dying? While I'm here?"

"You'd wish you were if you knew what happened to them…"


End file.
